The Forgotten Guardian
by Cherry Burlesque
Summary: Seven years on from Pitch's defeat, the Guardians are forced to reunite to stop the mysterious disappearances of children all over the world. With human authorities unable to make sense of the case, Jack realises that if he wants to stop someone he cares for a great deal from becoming the next victim, he has to act. Fast.
1. Prologue

_A/N: Hey team! Welcome to this monstrosity of a project I have going. I don't have much to say as yet about it, but if you want to contact me, you can find me on my tumblr._

_I endeavour to update this regularly, so bookmark or stay tuned if you want to keep up!_

The first children to disappear weren't missed. The homeless, the neglected; children who lived a miserable existence and had no reason to be found. After all, a beggar on a doorstep was much more of a nuisance to the shopkeeper than an empty bundle of rags. A child locked away was never noticed, so long as they kept quiet. No one ever noticed they were gone, so no one ever knew where they went. They were simply spirited away in the night as far as anyone who thought twice about it was concerned.

No one ever saw the glimmer of white light, or the soft sound of hooves on a hard surface. A drunken man on the street would dismiss it for an intoxicated dream, for who would believe that he actually saw a child reaching for a creature that didn't exist? And if he happened to believe that it wasn't the liquor, it was obviously mere exhaustion.

Thus these children left their miserable, tired lives, following a promise and a whisper of hope. They were never seen again.

It didn't become a point of focus until the children of 'proper' families began to disappear. Parents would lay their children down for the night, kiss their foreheads and turn out the lights, wishing them a good nights rest. In the morning, when they went to wake their children up, they were gone.

The local news ran a story on it when the first little girl disappeared, pleading for people to come forward who may have known anything about it. No one did.

When three more children from the same region vanished, it became much more urgent; national authorities sending out images of suspects, pleas to contact authorities, vision of tearful mothers begging for anyone to find their little boy or girl. No one did.

It wasn't until no less than twelve children between the ages of eighteen months to thirteen years did it become an international search. The disappearances had begun to spread, moving in what appeared to be a pattern across Europe. Investigators followed, but nothing was found.

Until one homeless man came forward. He spoke of a bright light during the night; of what sounded like a horse whinnying. How the child in the alley stood and said hello to the apparition, and was then easily lifted onto its back. In a gallop of hooves and a small, tired laugh, the light was gone and nothing but empty rags remained.

The story was so far-fetched that it could barely be taken seriously. The area was investigated and indeed a bundle of rags was found where the man described, but there was absolutely no evidence of hooves, and no other witnesses to back the mans story up.

Thus, the apparition theory was abandoned, and the man dismissed as a drunk.

But children continued to disappear. Parents stopped letting their kids sleep in separate rooms, keeping a vigil by their bedside in fear of them leaving. The authorities were stuck. The only thing that these children had in common was the fact they were sleeping when they were last seen. Besides that, there was nothing linking the cases. Still, no one came forward.

Authorities were floundering. They were becoming less and less confident that their leads were going anywhere. Questions being fired left right and centre that they couldn't answer, requests for help that they couldn't ackowledge. There wasn't a pattern in the disappearances besides the slow movement east. It began in England, then slowly shifted through the lower reaches of Europe, through the Middle East and across to Asia. Children indiscriminately plucked from their beds in a slow avalanche of growing panic.

The first child to disappear from the US was a small boy from California. The authorities had thought the phenomenon local to the European land mass, and chalked it up to some form of kidnapping. They didn't do much, besides a standard missing persons search. After all, the child came from a bad neighbourhood. Kids went missing all the time.

Then another, from Nevada. Then Utah. Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri. Further and further East, plucking children from the night, until the FBI had no choice but to issue an alert.

They got no closer to it than the European authorities. Still, no one came forward with what they thought was viable information. People describing the strange supernatural effects were dismissed.

It became a hopeless case of praying for leniency during the night, and endless despair when empty beds were found. People began to question their faiths. What merciful god, or gods, or deity, or whomever they worshipped, would rip their children from them? Why was nothing being done? Why did they dismiss the claims made by those who witnessed what was happening? Why could this not be tracked and stopped? How many children would have to disappear before something was _done?_ Why, why, why?

Why was no one watching over them? Where did they go? In the greatest time of need, why did they disappear? Guardian Angel; Jesus; Allah; God Almighty; Spirits or Guardians. Where were they now?

Where were they?

And then.

And then the kidnapper came to Pennsylvania.

And everything changed.


	2. Meeting

"Honestly, if I have one more piece of fruit cake I'm going to turn into a raisin."

"Yeah right, a raisin'd be bloody smarter than you are, mate."

Jack Frost, leaning back on a large, ornate desk chair, cast a raised eyebrow to the source of the quip on his intelligence.

"Says the hare daintily sculpting eggs for a living."

Bunny scowled and jabbed his paint brush in Jack's direction.

"Oi, Hares are bloody pests where I—"

"Case and point."

The two glared at each other, expressions stony as tension radiated off them in waves. Jack looked ready to jump on the defensive, Bunny with an expression of cool calculation. There was a stony silence.

"Alright, I'll pay it," Bunny conceded, tossing a can of soda to Jack, who caught it with a snicker. And just like that, the tension in the room dissipated. The two settled back into easy conversation once more, catching up on the events since their last meeting. Bunny had been caught by fires on Easter Sunday in Australia, and almost missed out on delivering the hunt. He escaped uninjured though, and managed to get as much as he could deliver to the kids stuck in evacuation shelters.

"Honestly, I don't even know why they keep bloody living there mate," he said conversationally, inspecting a new design for next years eggs. "Cyclones up one end, bushfires down the other, floods right through the middle. Makes my job near impossible I'll tell ya, especially since Easter falls right in the middle of the change of seasons for them. Honestly I had half a mind there at one point to take the whole lot of 'em off my delivery list."

"Ah, but that will not do! Will it, Bunny!" A cheerfully loud, booming voice echoed through the room, followed by frantic jangling of tiny bells as elves scrambled to be where they were supposed to be. "Many children in Australia, it would be terrible shame to lose so many, eh?"

Bunny rolled his eyes, long since giving up on explaining to North what sarcasm was. The old coot never understood it anyway.

"Hey Santa," Jack said lazily, sipping his soda. "Any new leads on the wandering kids?"

"None so far," North replied solemnly. "Even Tooth's fairies have not seen what takes children. It is like it avoids children who receive visit from them."

"How many went last night," Bunny's deadpan voice questioned.

"Three more," North said sadly. "I don't understand what we must do. We have been trying for weeks now with no leads."

"I guess we just have to try and keep an eye on the kids who are likely to disappear," Jack suggested.

Bunny grimaced, and shook his head. "Not gonna work, mate. We can try and be everywhere but lets face it, there's still only three of us."

Jack gave a dejected nod. With Tooth and Sandy working every hour of the night, it was next to impossible for them to help, besides keeping their eyes open for suspicious activity. Thus far, nothing had caught their attention, and so the search continued in circles without any solid leads. It was painfully frustrating, and caused North in particular quite a bit of stress. With each child who disappeared, one less light appeared on his globe. On last count, forty six had sputtered and vanished.

North took a hot towel from a plate offered by one of the elves, and wiped his forehead. With a heavy sigh, he sat down at his work bench. Jack and Bunny watched him silently, knowing he'd talk at some point. North always talked. It was part of his charm.

"We need to think outside square," he declared, leaning back and resting his interlaced fingers on his belly. "This is not just case of evil man stealing children. Something else is at work."

Jack and Bunny exchanged glances.

"We can't ask Manny?" Jack suggested, although he wasn't overly hopeful of that thought. The Man in the Moon didn't interfere unless it was of extreme importance or grave danger. Or unless he felt chatty. Which was rare.

North shook his head, picking up a slice of fruit cake in his giant hands.

"Manny clearly doesn't think this is so bad," he said, through a mouthful of cake. "It is not yet severe for him to give assistance. Frankly, I would like to avoid needing his help."

"Well that's stupid," Jack retorted, shooting the crescent peeking through the window a wilful look. He'd never really gotten over how the Moon had given him three hundred years of silent treatment. "Any child in danger is severe. He should get in and do something before it escalates."

"Nah mate," Bunny said voice uncharacteristically quiet. "Have you seen the state of the world? If Manny got involved with every poor sod, he'd be constantly in motion. That's why we're here. Mostly."

"Yeah, yeah, I know why we're here," Jack waved a dismissive hand, shaking his head. "Protecting the kids and all that. But we can't figure it out can we? Why can't the Moon do something now?"

"Because he must think we haven't explored all options," North said contemplatively. "Perhaps we need to put heads together."

The three of them fell into a troubled silence, each pondering possible scenarios that they hadn't yet thought of.

Jack tried to think of something else they could do. He really did. But his entire being was built around fun and entertainment; he couldn't concentrate for long periods of time. It was part of the reason he landed himself in trouble so often with North. As it were, his mind quickly drifted to things that didn't stress him or upset him, from where he needed to go for the next snow storm to the kids he encountered along the way.

Which, ultimately, led his thoughts to Jamie.

It had been a fair while since Jack had seen his first believer. His work had kept him from Burgess due to an unseasonal heat wave that put off snow throughout Pennsylvania. Well, at least that's what he told himself anyway.

In complete truth, Jack avoided Burgess now. Not because he didn't want to be there—more so because he was too _scared _to be there. It was irrational, but he held a deep fear of Jamie forgetting him and moving on. He knew that he could just look at the globe and check, but his irrational brain told him that Sophie believed too; the light shining from their pinprick could be her. He was frightened more than he'd admit to go back to Burgess and find out that Jamie had finally succumbed to what all other children eventually did; grow up and move on. The last time Jack had been there was a good three years ago; four years after they'd finally finished off Pitch. Jamie had turned fourteen that winter. He'd begun to grow into a gangly, half adult, half childish body and his features had begun to harden. Jack had gotten a shock that winter when he'd flown into Jamie's room, the greeting he'd received being much deeper than what he remembered. Jack's worst fears were slowly coming true; as much as he wanted to deny it and try and stall the process, Jamie Bennett was growing up. Soon he'd discover girls, grow his hair, rebel against his mother, get pimples and learn his body. Worst of all—to Jack—Jamie would forget him.

So, late one evening towards the end of that fourteenth winter, Jack had laughed with Jamie one last time in the snow. He'd skated with him one last time, told stories of his travels for the last time, passed on the other Guardians regards for the last time. And when Jamie had happily snuggled down to sleep, Jack had slipped away, leaving a small ice sculpture encased in perspex for the teen to remember him by.

He hadn't seen him since.

The other Guardians had refuted Jack's decision. They thought he was doing the wrong thing. Tooth had told him sadly that Jamie had caught one of her mini fairies one night as she went to collect one of Sophie's teeth, and demanded to know where Jack was. The fairy of course, couldn't tell him, but the message was relayed back to Tooth, who pleaded with Jack to return. North had simply accepted Jack's reasoning, though he disagreed with it, and Bunny had outright called him a 'stark raving lunatic'.

Still, Jack thought it was better this way.

The thoughts of Jamie were dampening Jack's mood, and he shook his head, not wanting to go down that train of thought. Blinking, he brought his attention back to the present, where Bunny and North were brainstorming.

"—could follow the trail around the globe and see if we can catch it," Bunny was suggesting.

North shook his head, heavy frown on his face. "No, Tooth already has her fairies, and they report nothing. If only we knew _what_ was taking children, then we would know _how _to fix it."

"You don't think it could be Pitch?"

"No, Pitch is still far too weak to make this. It will be many years before he makes trouble again."

Silence fell again, and Jack felt like taking his leave for the time being. Honestly, it was exhausting being in such a stressful environment, and all he really wanted to do was go out and faceplant a snow drift or something.

"Wait!" North's triumphant shout was so loud and so sudden, that it caused Jack to jump backwards onto a storage cabinet and Bunny to topple over in his chair. Elves scattered with jangles and shrill squeals in utter fright.

Neither Jack nor Bunny said anything as North stood, muttering to himself.

"Uh…Papa Claus," Jack said after a minute. "Don't mean to be pushy but—"

"_Stravinski!_" North said, eyes bright.

Jack and Bunny exchanged perplexed looks.

"We will alert other beings!" North began to bustle around the small room, opening drawers, rattling papers and causing general chaos, while the other two simply sat and watched him in utter astonishment. "Loch Ness, Cupid, Bunyip… _Shostakovich, where is that scroll?_"

After a few more minutes of gradually more agitated searching, North found what he was looking for.

"Aha!" A long, rolled piece of parchment was dropped triumphantly on the table, and Jack and Bunny moved a little closer to see what it was.

North took the ribbon from the paper and unrolled it, revealing a list of names longer than Jack's arm. On it, he could see names, like _Elle F, 7 Dwarfs, King Triton, Lepris Chorn, Groundhog, Bunyip, Cupid, _and so on.

"What are they?" Jack prodded the scroll, and was met with an indignant yelp from North.

"Do not touch scroll, Jack Frost," he exclaimed, but shook the paper flat anyway. "These are beings from all over the globe. Would be Guardians, or people of human myth."

Jack's next question was interrupted by a loud groan of complaint from Bunny.

"Are you serious? Why do we need their help? None of 'em would be interested anyway; they're all bloody sour that they aren't Guardians. As if they'd help!"

North shook his head, indicating his decision was final.

"No, Bunny. We do not have seeing power to watch all children. Guardians have our own jobs, but other beings may watch while we do not neglect duty."

"You think someone like the _bunyip _would do that?" Bunny laughed derisively. "He doesn't do anything but hide in ponds all day and wait for someone's poor lost puppy dog to wander past. He's lazier than Frost was when we found him!"

"Hey!"

"Tell me you're doing as much work now as you did before you became a Guardian, and I'll eat my foot mate."

Jack remained silent, and Bunny spread his paws in an 'I rest my case' gesture.

"Bunny," said North, his voice grim, "we have no choice. We must find source of this. With many beings, we have many eyes. Maybe it will come to nothing, maybe not. We must try."

Bunny bristled for a moment, but then his shoulders slumped and he conceded with a huff.

"Alright mate. It's for the kids anyway."

North grinned and nodded, before rolling up the scroll and striding out of the room.

"It is settled then! We alert other beings and ask for their help in finding kidnapper!"

Jack and Bunny followed silently behind, letting North mutter to himself. He knew what he was doing.

"Uh, I don't wanna be a Johnny raincloud or anything," Jack spoke up as North strode through the vast expanse of his workshop. "But how are we going to alert—"

North stopped and turned to look at Jack with an eyebrow raised, and on glancing at Bunny, Jack found he was being fixed with two incredulous stares.

"Oh, right. One night a year thing…"

Bunny muttered something under his breath that sounded like a good natured insult, and North just chuckled and continued on his way.

"I will go by sleigh. Bunny, you take tunnels! Jack!" A huge, bucket like hand clapped on his shoulder, nearly making Jack fall face first into a pile of delicately handcrafted statues. "You take ice caps! Find the Iceland Worm. Nessie! Trolls in Norway and Lady Eir. You know of these, yes?"

"Nope."

"Excellent! Also Valkyrie in north. Report back in three days!" North leaned down and whispered surreptitiously in Jack's ear. "I give you extra time because you do not work in same way Bunny or I do."

"Gee, thanks," Jack responded with a wry smirk.

"Bunny! You take Southern Hemisphere. Not as much down there. Find as many beings as you can."

"You got it."

"And I will take Americas and rest of Northern Hemisphere."

Now that North had a plan and was in action, it was impossible to slow him down. Jack attempted to ask questions to find out more about these 'beings' he was supposed to find, but before he could, North pet him on the shoulder, wished him luck and shot through the tunnels on his sleigh.

Bunny gave Jack a bemused look, and shrugged.

"Get's a bee in his bonnet and he's running three ways to Sunday."

Jack snorted, shaking his head. "You know I have no idea what you just said, right?"

"Yeah mate. Part of my charm." His expression turned serious. "Look. I don't know what's going on here, but you bet any money we'll stop this thing getting to the Burgess kids."

Jack blanched. "Burgess? Who said anything about Burgess?"

"You didn't know?"

A frown made its way onto the winter sprite's face, as what felt like a block of ice settled in his stomach.

"Know what?"

"The kids last night mate," Bunny said in a low voice, "they were from Pennsylvania."

Jack felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him. Pennsylvania. The state where Burgess was. The kidnapper was in Jamie's state. The kidnapper could make its way to Jamie's town. Jamie or Sophie could go missing. Or Cupcake…or any of the other kids.

"Hey, Jack," Bunny said, an edge of worry in his voice. "Mate. It'll be alright. We won't let it get him. We're getting everyone on it, cool as a cuke. Jack? Oi, Jack. Mate."

Bunny's voice felt like it was reverberating around the room at a thousand decibels. There was a rushing sound in his ears, and he couldn't figure out if he wanted to blow something up or make his way directly to Burgess and remove every single child from the town to stay in the North Pole until any sort of creature or activity deemed too unsafe was forever dealt with in the fiery pits of hell.

Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic.

"Bunny," Jack croaked, leaning heavily on his staff. "Bunny, I have to go to Burgess."

"North has it under control, Jack," came the instant response. "You don't need to go there mate. Tooth and Sandy'll be watching him too. They aren't stupid, they'll be making sure he's ok."

"I have to go and find Jamie and…and Sophie. Bunny…get _off _me."

Bunny had caught hold of Jack's wrist in an iron grip, and glared at him with his ears flattened slightly. It wasn't often that the rabbit executed his authority on the comparatively younger guardian, but when he did, Jack knew he meant business. The winter spirit tried to calm himself, but anxiety was bubbling up in him at a rapid rate, and it was all he could do to stop shooting off into the night like a deranged lunatic.

"Jack," Bunny said, voice low and serious. "You need to do what North told you to do. We've got jobs to do and running off to find Jamie isn't going to help us stop this thing."

Jack swallowed, and tried to breathe some sense into himself. His staff had completely frosted over—a clear indication of his tension—leaving small patterns in the wood of the workshop floor.

It took a few minutes, but eventually he nodded mutely, still not looking at Bunny.

"There you go mate," the rabbit's voice was much softer now, and he slowly released Jack's wrist. "Common sense. You have buckleys of getting anything done unless we work together alright?"

"Alright," Jack muttered dejectedly. "I'll. Beings. Yep."

Bunny sighed and stepped back.

"We're keeping him safe, mate. Just get your part done and we'll do hours."

Jack nodded, and Bunny tapped his foot, leaping down the hole that materialised.

As soon as he was gone, Jack contemplated shooting off in the direction of Burgess, but thought better of it. He could go there later. Sandy would take care of the Bennett's until then. He trusted the dream guardian.

Steeling himself, and with every ounce of willpower he had, he decided to do what he was told, and shot off out the nearest window into the icy arctic air.


	3. Nessie

Icy wind whipped around the winter sprite as he shot through the darkness. It was buffeting this way and that, cold snowflakes getting under the skin and inside the cuffs of clothes, and to anyone else it would have been an utmost nuisance. Pain enough to remain inside with the fire roaring and the curtains drawn.

But for Jack, it was a delicious reprieve from the heat of North's workshop. He breathed in the frigid air as though respiration was going out of fashion, and the cold icy particles that slipped down his hoodie and landed on his skin were like gentle little kisses. The blizzard, more than anything else, helped calm his panicked mind and focus on his task.

Jack didn't have the slightest idea where to start when looking for these 'beings'. It made sense that they existed, sure. After all, what was Jack before he became a Guardian? He figured he'd fallen under the class of 'being'. Yes, it made sense, but he literally had zero idea where to go to find these mythical creatures.

Mostly.

The leprechaun was obvious. Same with Nessie. It was the others that had him stumped. What the fuck was a Valkyrie? And Lady Eir? And the Iceland Worm or whatever North had called it?

He supposed he just had to search those countries until he found them. Without a need to eat or sleep, it shouldn't be too difficult. In theory, anyway.

Try as he might to keep his mind focused on his destination (Scotland seemed like a logical place to start), Jack couldn't help but lose concentration when the air was especially cool and comfortable to drift in.

His mind drifted to Jamie, as it inevitably would when Jack was left alone for periods of time. How old would he be now? Nearly the same age as Jack, wouldn't he? Physically, at least. He'd probably be close to finishing school, Maybe he had a girlfriend. Sophie would be nine. She was still losing her teeth, so Jack knew that they were at least appearing cheerful when Baby Tooth (who had made it her personal task to collect the Burgess kids teeth) arrived periodically. When he saw her, Baby Tooth would make it her personal mission to irritate Jack as much as possible by flying around his head, tugging on his clothes and squeaking loudly in his ears, for what Tooth explained was dislike at what 'he was doing'; ie, avoiding the Bennett's.

Over the years though, he'd gradually heard less and less about them, as the others gave up trying to encourage Jack to return. Now, he had no idea what Jamie was doing. Jack wasn't sure whether he regretted that or not. True, it eased the pain and the fear of Jamie failing to believe in him anymore, but it brought with it it's own pain. Fear of unknowing. No matter how much he would deny it to Bunny or go red faced when Tooth gave him knowing, toothy grins, Jack cared deeply for the boy, and it nearly broke him when he heard how badly Jamie was taking his departure.

Even so, Jack was stubborn, and convinced himself that it was the best course of action for both of them. After all, what was he to do even if Jamie continued to believe? Hang around until he grew old and grey, while Jack remained eternally stuck at eighteen? Spend all those years with him as his best friend, only to lose Jamie somewhere down the track due to age or illness?

Jack was far too scared to face that. He couldn't do it. It was kinder to lose Jamie when he did than in fifty years or more, or have him stop believing.

Nevertheless, he still fantasized with the idea of one day making a valiant return. When his willpower broke down and he couldn't bear it anymore. But logic told him it would not be with open arms, at least to begin with.

Jack was so caught up with his thoughts that he completely missed the change in the air that signified departure from the tundra and an entry to the arid zone. When he realised, he paused mid air and did a quick assessment of the weather. By his calculations, he could probably coax the wind to shoot him in the direction of Scotland, landing there in perhaps an hour or so.

He heaved a heavy sigh. This was so not what he wanted to be doing right now. He had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for (apart from Nessie and the Leprechaun, obviously), and trying to convince them to help the guardians when he had no idea what they were even like was something he wasn't looking forward to. Nonetheless, with an agitated huff, he steeled himself and continued on his way.

It was below freezing in Lochend when Jack arrived. Dark, frosty and utterly miserable.

The perfect weather, in his opinion.

The loch though, looked like a black sheet of glass. Most uninviting in the current conditions. Being quite early in the morning, there were no tourists or villagers around, and the air was clear. Jack padded silently around part of the lake's shoreline, gazing at it pensively as he tried to figure out how to find the monster.

There was no way he was diving in, that was for sure. There were certain types of cold Jack Frost could appreciate, many of which he loved, but submerging himself in water that was likely only not frosted over because of some kind of local tourist scheme was definitely not on that list. And with this particular expanse of water being so huge he doubted he'd have any chance of finding the Monster before he succumbed to extreme discomfort thanks to a lack of oxygen. Instead, he stepped out towards the middle, the water beneath his feet frosting over enough to support his weight.

Silence was profound; it seemed almost too quiet here. Especially in this small tourist hub. Everyone knew about the Loch Ness Monster. People came here all the time looking for it. So the lack of people out was somewhat surprising. Well, to Jack, at least. He supposed that was because he tended to frequent places with a slightly higher concentration of people, rather than scatterings of villages that were all part of one huge expanse of nature. The snow that fell here was often blow off from Northern Europe.

He supposed he really only had himself to blame about the lack of knowledge about this place.

The lake itself was gargantuan. Jack felt like he was walking for an hour, and still probably hadn't reached the middle. Muttering to himself, he stopped and glanced up at the moon, which smiled down at him like an obnoxious grandpa or something.

"I hope you know I hate you for putting me up to this."

The moon simply continued to smile.

"Couldn't just tell us what this thing is huh? Or would that be too easy."

Stone cold silence.

"Thought so."

Jack sighed, and sat down on the ice, staring into the black depths of the lake. He contemplated freezing the entire lake solid, but that would take days, and probably wouldn't help him get on good terms with the so called terrifying monster. He supposed he could just make a lot of noise until it showed up, but again, probably wouldn't put him in favour.

Basically everything he thought of meant he wouldn't be in the monster's favour when he finally caught its attention. He scared himself silly with fantastical imaginings of what it might do to him if he tried to freeze it out of the lake, and spent a good ten minutes laughing. Why the hell did North think he'd be any good at this sort of job? He had the tact of a light pole. There was no way he was going to be able to encourage these things to help.

With a tired groan, the ice sprite dropped his head to his knees, letting his staff rest across his toes as he tried to come up with a solution. No doubt North would know exactly what to do.

He lost track of how long he was sitting there for. Could have been an hour, could have been seven. Either way, he felt like every option he came up with was more stupid than the last.

Just as he was about to get up and try tap dancing across the ice in a pink tutu or something, the water beneath him stirred. Not much, but enough to catch his attention. Leaning down, Jack tried to inspect the water, but it was so black and cloudy that he could barely see three feet down, let alone any deeper.

The water stirred again.

Jack stood, wary of the movement; because it was not something a little fish could conjure up. He was prepared to leap into the sky or ice over the loch, and a thousand possible defence scenarios shot through his head as he planned several routes of escape.

One thing he learned over the years was to definitely not go in blind. Or without an escape route.

At least he'd only done one of those things this time.

As he watched, the water began to ripple. First, softly; and then they became larger and more violent. Water was sloshing over the small island of ice Jack was standing on, and bubbles were beginning to break the surface. They made a strange, eerie glooping noises that put the ice sprite on edge.

The ripples turned to waves, and the glooping bubbles became crashing lines of foam that ran their way to the shore some distance away. Jack could hear them over the sound of his pulse in his ears, but he decided against fleeing. This had to be the monster he was seeking. If he fled now, he'd have flown all the way here and sat on the water like an idiot for no reason. If Jack Frost was going to look like an idiot, there was definitely going to be a reason for it.

With an almighty spatter of water that would have soaked anyone within a five metre radius, a huge hulking form emerged from the blackness of the lake. It rose slowly, as though it were sluggish, but the sheer height and magnitude of it had Jack clutching his staff for reassurance. Long, plesiosaur like limbs followed what was undoubtedly a monolithic neck, supporting a monstrous body that looked like it should not by any law of physics be able to be supported on water.

Jack could feel his heart in his mouth, and he stared up at the thing with wide, wary eyes. There were teeth in that maw that could take out a blue whale, and spurs on the tale that looked like they would flatten a concrete house in one fell swoop.

The creature was absolutely terrifying to behold.

Jack got oh so close to fleeing.

"Oh belter, what have we here laddie?" The voice that came from the direction of the monster was so utterly unexpected that Jack snorted in shock. It sounded like Groundskeeper Willie on steroids. Nearly any and all fear that came with the first impression of the beast evaporated in a heart beat, and Jack shot up off the ice to hover in front of one large, golden eye.

"I cannae see yer properly when yer that close laddie," the monster said again, and Jack backed up a little, stifling his laughter as he did so.

"Nessie?"

"Aye lad."

Jack paused, trying to figure out what he wanted to say.

"Listen, lad, I dinnae what yer doing here at this time of th'evenin', but I know yer bin here a long time. Do yer want somethin' from me or not?"

"Uh, yeah I just…you're really…not what I expected." Jack cocked his head as he took in the head of the creature. It—he, he supposed, seeing as the voice was definitely masculine—had an overly large, oval shaped head, rather like an egg laying on its side. Two oversized ears extended from either side, and heavy lidded eyes were fixed expectantly on Jack.

"I never am," said Nessie.

Jack had to stop and collect his thoughts for a minute. The shock of the giant sea creature looking like a horrific predator and sounding like a cartoon character scrambled his brain, and he coughed pointedly to buy himself some time.

Nessie didn't say anything while Jack stalled. It simply watched him silently, water gently lapping at the huge planes of it's fins and sides.

Eventually, Jack managed to snap out of it, and he puffed his chest out, trying to look more impressive than he felt.

"Nessie," he said, voice managing to hide just how out of sorts he was, "I uh. I've come to request a favour of you, if I may."

"Make it quick lad, suns'a bout to rise and I cannae afford to be seen more than I already have."

Jack nodded, and cleared his throat. "There's a creature on the loose that's been taking children from their beds during the night. The Gua—"

"Oh aye, I know of what yer speak."

"You do?" Jack felt like whooping for a second, but then the monster spoke again and he felt the feeling deflate like a popped balloon.

"Aye lad, it's an ancient creature of a power I scarcely care to imagine."

"Sounds…great."

"If it's roamin' th'world again lad, it means something sinister's amiss."

"Do you know what it is? What's taking the children?"

"Takes many forms. Last I saw've it was a jester of some kind. I ken it were a long time ago that it last showed up in this world."

Jack tried to fathom this, and he exhaled, frowning hard.

"Ye look like ye could use a day off there lad."

"It'd be nice," he replied wearily. "Do you know what form it's in now? Or how it works?"

"Nay, I never took much interest in worldly matters my boy."

The ice sprite nodded and rubbed his forehead tiredly. This was important information, but it didn't really make it less upsetting to hear.

"Okay well, that's helpful to know. I wanted to ask you for your help with this thing."

Nessie seemed to turn its head, though there was no sound.

"Could you keep watch on the area around here? The other Guardians and I are trying to stop this thing from taking more kids. There are kids I care about in a lot of danger and…if you could let us know if there's any suspicious things it'd be…really great."

Nessie looked as though it was contemplating for a moment, before its mighty head dipped once, and began to sink back down into the murky depths of the lake.

"Aye, I can do that," he said, "how should I touch ye to let yer know if I seen anythin'?"

"Toothiana's mini fairies," Jack said urgently, following the Loch Ness Monster as it sank slowly beneath the depths. "They visit the area regularly, if you see something, leave a message for them!"

"Aye, lad, shall do. I best be going now see, been visible far too long this ight." And without another word to Jack, Nessie disappeared beneath the surface of the Loch.

It was a good minute or so before Jack realised he was holding his breath. He was still three feet above the surface of the water, staring down at the softening ripples while he carded his fingers through his hair. Shock was probably a good description of his emotion.

The entire exchange was almost too easy. There had to be a catch.

Still, Jack didn't wait around to find out. His next stop was Dublin to visit the leprechaun, and then north east to the top reaches of Europe.

With a haughty exhale, and a quick, bitter glance at the Moon, Jack shot up into the sky and headed in the direction of Ireland, leaving a gust of wind and snow in his wake.

* * *

"Jamie? Don't you think you should go to bed now? It's nearly eleven."

"Yeah, Mom, give me five more minutes. I just have to finish this essay."

"Alright. I'll see you in the morning. Don't stay up too late!"

"I won't."

Jamie Bennett turned back to his computer, tired eyes rereading for the thousandth time the essay he was writing for his junior history teacher. He barely remembered why he even took that stupid class, and he regretted it now more than ever. Honestly there were at least like…eight other things he could be doing that would be more entertaining than writing an essay about colonial Burgess. Literally nothing interesting happened there aside from like, the odd drowning.

With a tired huff, Jamie rubbed his eyes and sat back in his chair, trying to focus. He'd nearly reached the word limit. Only a good conclusion would wrap up this essay, and then he could fall to the sweet, merciful caress of his bed.

It took probably half an hour at least though, and eventually, Jamie was able to close up his computer and slip into the bathroom to have a quick shower.

Refreshed and ready for bed, he bypassed Sophie's room to give his kid sister a kiss goodnight, before padding back into his own room.

Jamie's eyes fell briefly on the small, perfectly preserved snowflake on his sill, and he glared away almost instantly. Despite his efforts though, the small relic still caused long dormant feelings to stir in his gut, but he couldn't bring himself to toss the perspex out.

It had been four years since he'd last seen the winter spirit. Even after all that time, it felt like a serrated knife clawed at his insides when he thought of it.

He'd spent the day laughing and joking around with Jack as though nothing were out of the ordinary. But despite the sprite's best efforts to keep it casual, Jamie was old enough to sense when things weren't quite right. Jack seemed off, and it took him a little longer to laugh at things. Once or twice Jamie even caught him looking at him with a pained expression. But of all the possible scenarios he could conjure up to explain the behaviour, nothing even remotely close to what actually happened crossed his mind.

He'd woken up that morning to an empty room, which wasn't so out of the ordinary. Jack often left during the night, only to come back a couple of days later. What wasn't normal was the small token he'd left behind. Just a single snowflake.

Looking at that, Jamie knew all too well why Jack had been acting strange.

He wasn't coming back.

To begin with, Jamie had been in a state of denial. He'd refused to believe that one of the most important people in his life had just up and left him without even explaining why. He'd leave his window open at night in hope that the familiar whisper of wind would flow through, announcing Jack's arrival. Sometimes he'd sit on the sill scanning the night sky, just hoping for a glimpse or a sign that Jack had been there. If Sophie lost a tooth, he'd pretend to be asleep until one of the mini-fairies showed up to collect it, and he'd corner them and demand answers. The poor things were terrified when he got that way, but eventually they began to understand that he just wanted an answer.

It never came.

Eventually his denial turned to grief, and he mourned. Sophie wasn't quite old enough yet to fully understand, and his mother thought he was suffering depression. His friends stopped believing in the guardians a long time ago, so he hadn't had anyone to talk to, and his emotions were translated to angry blog entries and drawings of what might have been.

Jamie lost track of how long he actively wished for Jack's return, but before long he ended up in a sort of dejected acceptance. The spirit was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. But life carried on, as it sometimes cruelly does, and he was forced to pick up the pieces of his abandonment and return to functioning as a normal teenager.

That never meant he stopped believing though. Every so often he'd catch glimpses of Sandy's golden dreams visiting the kids in the neighbourhood, and on Christmas North had always made a special visit to say hello. Same with the Easter Bunny.

He knew Jack was out there. There was just no closure or explanation as to why he did what he did. So Jamie carried the wound in his heart for three long years, trying to avoid looking at the little reminder of his guardian.

Now, it had dulled to a small ache in his chest when he remembered him, but it wasn't debilitating grief anymore. He was doing well in his junior year, had a part time job at the greengrocer and even had some messages from a girl in his class whom he was sort of interested in. It was nice.

He'd never told his mother the real reason why he'd spent so long in such a state of sadness. She respected his wishes not to talk about it. Even when she grew curious about that little perspex covered snowflake on his window sill.

Jamie picked it up and gazed down at the all too familiar crystallized ice. He knew every groove and strand of that snowflake, and the perspex was worn around the edges where he'd handled it for so long. Even after three years, the snowflake remained as perfectly preserved as ever, and despite the painful memories it brought forth, Jamie felt a little bit of comfort when he held it.

With a sigh, he placed the snowflake back on his sill, and turned to his bed where his cell was vibrating. It was just a text message from Nieve, the girl he'd sort of been seeing. He gave a small smirk at the way her name popped up on his screen, the way she'd entered her name into his contacts when she'd given him her number always managing to make him smile a little.

_From: Nieve ;)xxx_

_19 Mar. 23:49._

_heeeyyyy! have u finished ur essay._

_omg im dying im not even half way :(_

Laughing lightly, Jamie texted back with a 'yes, just done', and put his phone on his bedside table. Within minutes, she'd responded, and Jamie found himself in a slightly flirtatious conversation while he lay on his bed.

Being absorbed in his messaging, Jamie didn't notice what was going on outside. The normally quiet night held movement, unnatural and frightening. Small sounds made their way through the darkness, his closed window blocking it out and the half drawn blinds hiding the rustling outside. The glow from his phone hid the faint light that he would have otherwise noticed, and with his attention fixed elsewhere, the white light and gentle sounds of a child's feet were lost to him.


	4. Wraith

**Authors Notes.**

_Art by the lovely punch-in-the-faces for Chapter 1 can be found at tumblr /post/45459948179. _

_I'd also like to add that I'll be tracking the tag 'tfgfic' on tumblr, and i'll be tagging all posts related to that in the future! So if you want me to see something related to the fic, tag it with 'tfgfic' and you'll be certain I'll see it. 8)_

* * *

Fucking worms.

Seriously, fuck worms.

Jack had spent nearly an hour trying to wipe the slime from his clothes after he'd accidentally insulted the Iceland Worm (which, unsurprisingly, was actually a giant fucking worm). The thing hat spit slime at him, which on any human would have burned him to a crisp. But being basically the living embodiment of ice, had merely given him a mild fever.

That wasn't to say it wasn't all sorts of annoying though.

Aside from that slight mishap, things had seemed to go well with the other beings. After Jack had visited the leprechaun, Lepris Chorn, and tried to gather more information on the thing Nessie had partly described. Lepris didn't seem to know anything more about it, but had cheerfully agreed to keep a look out throughout Ireland. He'd then proceeded to hand Jack a pint and race him to see who could finish first.

Lepris won.

It took maybe a few hours before Jack was in any state to travel again (not that he was complaining), and he proceeded to Northern Europe, looking for the Valkyrie things that apparently existed around Norway. He'd gotten caught up there, unfortunately, when a young child recognised him and started shrilly calling for him ('_Jokul Frosti! Jokul Frosti! Hallais!'_), but eventually had managed to find what he was searching for. The Valkyrie was some kind of huge, winged woman, who didn't seem like she had much to do. The pair of spirits had flitted between several languages before they'd settled on one they both knew (Dutch) and Jack had again explained to her the situation.

Valkyrie was very aware of the missing children, and had been tailing the creature for some time. She told Jack that the being appeared as some kind of equine, possibly a unicorn, which to Jack made no sense because unicorns were supposed to be kind. Either way, she agreed to watch for it, but made no promises to alert him should she find it again '_because I am a goddess of Death, Jokul, I do not interfere with the fate of the living, save to fetch them when their time is up_'.

Jack had departed Norway feeling a chill on his spine, which was quite out of the ordinary. He went looking for the trolls and Lady Eir, but to no luck, and gave up after a few hours.

From there, it was on to Iceland, where he met the giant worm. Jack had accidentally compared it to an earthworm, which the worm clearly didn't appreciate. It sprayed him with its slime, and burrowed beneath the surface of the tundra before Jack could even apologise, let alone ask it for its help.

So it was that Jack found himself, freezing the slime bit by bit and shattering it to get it off his body. He grumbled and griped a bit, but didn't bother to try and convince the worm to hear him out. Really, who wanted an overgrown compost churner to help anyway? It'd probably mistake the creature for waste and turn it into dirt.

Jack gave a vindictive snort as he thought about that, cleaning off the last of the slime. Standing, he checked the position of the moon, and did a quick assessment of the weather. By his calculations, he'd only been out for two days. North had given him three. He still had a whole day to dick around before he had to be back at the north pole.

Scratching his head briefly, he debated what he was going to do. He could go looking for the beings he'd missed again, but that was really unappealing. Give the Mongolians some more ice?

Nah.

Looked like it was to the same thing he always ended up doing when he was bored.

Jack headed straight for the tooth palace.

When one knew the way to the tooth palace without the use of North's globes, it took less than twenty minutes to get there. As soon as the palace came into view, swarms of little mini fairies zipped this way and that, some carrying teeth, others quarters, and they all headed in one of two directions. In or out.

The second Jack showed his nose, he was bombarded with shrill squeaking and the buzzing of tiny wings; greetings from Tooth's mini fairies. He laughed as he tried to get around them, but they accompanied him all the way to the main palace, where Tooth could be heard shooting orders to her workers regarding the various locations of missing teeth.

The mini fairies caught her attention though, and she turned, tail feathers flaring as her eyes widened in delight on seeing Jack.

"Jack!" she called happily, and all but barreled into him to give him a bone crushing hug. For such a petite thing, Tooth was deceptively strong.

"I missed you! Where've you been? Did you know Sophie Bennett finally lost her left mandible canine! She's nearly lost them all now!"

Jack laughed awkwardly as he always did when Tooth brought up the younger Bennett, but hugged her back with a warm smile. She always managed to lift his spirits, one way or another.

Shrill squeaking filled Jack's ears and Tooth jumped back, looking sheepish as a tiny mini fairy shot into Jack's field of vision, grinning toothily.

"Hey Baby Tooth," Jack laughed, letting the fairy land on his finger while he stroked her cheek with his pinky. Baby Tooth squeaked happily, before moving off his finger to settle herself at her usual spot in the hood of his jumper.

Jack turned to Tooth, smiling at her, feeling better already. No matter what the situation, he could always count on Tooth and her fairies to cheer him up.

"It's good to be back here," he said, and Tooth smiled and took his hand. Together they flew to the tranquil bottom of the grotto, settling near the stream.

"It's good to see you, Jack!" the fairy queen chirped, sitting on her knees while gazing at him.

"You too, Tooth."

The pair of them chatted easily, about all things from the weather to the latest episode of 'Jack-accidentally-indirectly-knocks-out-a-childs-tooth'. Tooth's mini fairies zipped over with tea (iced for Jack—he hated hot drinks) and some lemon drop biscuits. They spoke about new believers, kids that stopped believing and kids who never believed to begin with, and how they could help them all in one way or another.

It was nice, really.

Silence fell briefly, slightly punctuated by small chirps and chatters from Baby Tooth, who burrowed herself in against Jack's neck. He felt her little beak nose rub against his skin, and enjoyed the feeling of her tiny breaths as she curled up in the fabric.

"So…any luck with the missing kids?"

Tooth's face fell, and she shook her head sadly.

"No. My fairies have been doing their best, but there's no trace of it. How about you?"

Jack recalled Nessie's story to her, as well as the additional information provided by Valkyrie. It sounded a bit ridiculous to him when he retold the story, especially with the whole 'mythical unicorn' part. Tooth certainly seemed to think it was odd; when he said it looked like a unicorn to the norse goddess, she quirked her head and gave him a puzzled look.

"Do you know what it could be, Tooth? From what Nessie told me?"

Tooth looked at her hands, a frown on her heart-shaped face.

"I don't think so. He said it was ancient, didn't he? Perhaps we should talk to Sandman…He might know what it means."

Jack sighed, carding his fingers through his hair. He'd expected as much, but it was still a bummer.

"Do you know where it was last?"

Jack looked up at her, swallowing as the memory of Bunnymund telling him where the kidnapper was.

"Pennsylvania." He couldn't help it; his voice broke. Tooth chewed her bottom lip as she watched him, knowing what it meant.

There was a pregnant pause.

"Go and see him," she urged gently. "He still misses you, Jack. I know you—"

"No," he cut her off with a forceful denial. "I can't afford to go see him. I can't risk it. I know Sophie still believes in us because she can see Baby Tooth, but Jam—"

"—does too." Tooth finished his sentence for him. "Bunny saw him last Easter. They spoke for a long time. North visits him too. If he believes in them, he believes in you, and it hurts him that you won't go back."

Jack remained silent, a sulky expression on his face.

"Jack," Tooth reached over and placed a hand on his, expression soft. "I know you're afraid…but I know what it's like to miss you…don't put him through that anymore."

Jack jerked away from her, guilt bubbling like acid in his gut. In his hood, Baby Tooth gave an indignant chirp, and she shot up to make angry little noises in Tooth's face.

Without another word, Jack stood and began to walk away, though he didn't really intend to leave the palace just yet. He just got so damn tired of being coaxed and coddled into going back to Jamie. Didn't Tooth understand _why _he wouldn't go? Of all of his friends, he thought she'd be most understanding, but she pushed him just as much as the others.

"Jack—"

"Don't, Tooth," he said forcefully, not looking at her. He knew she was right behind him, but he didn't want her to see the look on his face. He felt weak enough already not being able to protect Jamie and his sister properly.

Baby Tooth was silent as she sat on his shoulder, but he could feel her tiny hand on the side of his neck, trying to give him comfort. He appreciated that gesture, at least.

"Don't you get why I won't go back?"

"Jack I—"

"What will I do if I go back and he still believes? Stick around? What about in five years huh? Fifteen? Fifty? When he's old, grey and dying, and I'm stuck like this forever? What do I do then, Tooth?"

The look on her face nearly made him crack altogether, but he managed to keep it in one piece. They stayed silent for a few minutes, Jack making irritable patterns in the sand beneath his feet, Tooth fluttering quietly behind him.

Eventually, she spoke.

"Wouldn't you rather have spent all that time with him, knowing you were both happy, than spend the rest of your time here wishing you'd just taken that shot and gone back?"

Jack drew in a deep, unsteady breath. "Honestly, I don't know," he admitted, utterly defeated. "I don't know what I'd prefer. I just want him to be happy."

"He's not happy without you," Tooth said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He won't ever be truly happy without you, Jack. And you won't without him. You haven't been happy since you left."

Jack huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose lightly with his thumb and forefinger.

"I need to go back to the Pole," he murmured, and behind him he could hear the fairy queen give a faint sigh. "I have to let the others know what I've found out."

"Alright," she conceded, and Jack felt relief that she'd given up. "Give the others my well wishes."

Jack nodded, and turned to give her a brief hug. Baby Tooth gave a light chirp, and Tooth smiled.

"Do you mind if she goes with you, Jack?"

Jack glanced down at Baby Tooth, who was perched on his shoulder with a great big grin on her tiny little face. He couldn't help but smile at her, and he gave her a quick rub with his finger.

"Sure, she can come. She's good company when I have a long way to travel."

Baby Tooth trilled happily, and Jack turned back to look at Tooth, his expression unreadable.

"I know you mean well, Tooth," he said, taking her small hand in his, "but I just…can't do it. Not right now."

She nodded silently, and they hugged again before Jack shot up through the columns of the palace, out into the tranquil air. Baby Tooth chirped and peeped happily in his ear, giving Jack a nice distraction from the black despair in his heart.

* * *

By the time he landed back at the pole, the three-day time limit that North had given Jack was up, and he was all but exhausted. Figuratively, that is. Being dead came with the added perk that he was capable of functioning with no sleep, but the weariness of being conscious for so long took it's toll, and Jack liked having a nap here and there just to clear his head. So he was looking forward to a good long kip when he touched down in North's workshop.

The globe was glowing weakly in the middle of the room, lights flickering not quite as strong as they had three days ago. Jack gazed up at it sadly, Baby Tooth chirruping in his ear as she watched the slow rotation of the sphere.

"We'll work on it, Baby," Jack said, scratching the side of her head with his pinky finger. "They'll be up and shining again soon."

"Jack!"

North really was incapable of keeping his voice low.

Baby Tooth shot up, trilling happily, and zoomed around his head once. North laughed and greeted her, though the light didn't reach his eyes. Jack could see the gravity of the situation weighing heavily on him.

"We were waiting for you! Bunny is already here. We can share information in study." North gestured in the direction of the study, and muttered to a few elves to fetch some cake and eggnog.

Jack didn't really feel like cake and eggnog.

Nevertheless, he made his way to the study, wearily dragging his feet. He gave Bunny a weak greeting, and flopped down onto North's oversized desk chair, barely summoning the energy to grin at the old mans indignant huff. Now that he was back and in a warm environment, he just felt like closing his eyes and drifting off for a few hours. The heat pressed at his eyelids and made them heavier than normal, and it fogged his mind. He felt like he was walking through pillow stuffing trying to concentrate, and in the end he groaned.

"I'm really not in the best shape to do this right now," Jack admitted, rubbing his forehead with a grimace. "It's too hot in here. Can't we use the room where all your ice sculptures are, North?"

"Why don't I fill tub with cold water for you to lie in?" The old man responded thoughtfully.

Jack shook his head. "No, I tend avoid submerging myself in water. Ruins my hairdo."

Bunny gave a scoff that Jack returned with a cheeky grin.

"Ok, ok, no more jokes. Jack, you must stay until we get all information on the table, and then you may rest. Ok?"

The ice sprite nodded, though his internal voice was groaning like an old steam train. The heat clogged up his thoughts like mud and the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to sleep.

Thankfully, Baby Tooth was on his side. She sat beside him and chirruped and chirped in his ear whenever his head began to droop, causing his attention to snap back to the conversation at hand.

"Jack!"

North's voice was loud enough this time that it startled Jack completely out of his reverie. He stared at North like a deer caught in headlights (or a naughty kid caught doing something he shouldn't be), and cleared his throat.

"Yeah?"

"You need to give report to us." North was much gentler this time. "Then you may sleep."

Jack nodded, and rubbed his forehead again, trying to figure out where to begin.

He started with meeting Nessie, and the information he had for him. The 'mysterious ancient being', the previous forms it had taken and how long ago that had been. When he spoke of it, Bunny's ears perked a little, and his expression soured. But he kept quiet and let Jack continue.

It wasn't until he repeated the information the Valkyrie had given him that Bunny spoke.

"I bloody knew it!" He swore, causing Jack and North to stare at him in alarm. "This thing has been here before," Bunny said, bounding lightly over to North's desk and pulling out a piece of paper and a pen. "Centuries ago not long after I became a Guardian, kids were going missing in the middle east without any explanation."

Bunny scribbled on the paper in a chicken-scratch penmanship, and held it up for the other two to see.

There was silence for a minute, before it was broken by North.

"Bunny…I do not understand."

Bunny rolled his eyes and gestured with the paper.

"It's a wraith! _The _Wraith. It shows up in the form of things that are supposed to be happy and welcoming, and nicks them off before anyone's the wiser. It belonged to someone back then when I first came by it, but I dunno whether that's true now."

Jack and North exchanged glances, and then turned back to Bunny, who was looking incredibly exasperated.

"Haven't you ever dreamt of something that you could do or see that would just make everything so much better? Like…seeing your sister, Jack," Jack looked away, expression stony, "or Dominika," North's eyes darkened, but he said nothing. "This _wraith _would show up in front of you in their form, and coerce you to follow it. I thought it could change willy nilly, but apparently not, if everyone is describing a unicorn."

"Wait, wait," Jack said, feeling more than a little confused. "So, this thing just appears as a happy little teddy bear if you want it to, and it takes you away?"

"Basically, yeah," Bunny replied.

They fell silent, trying to figure out why or what it was behind it.

"Wraiths do not work alone," North said after a minute. "Something more sinister is behind this. But _why_?"

More silence. The three of them stared in different directions, trying to come up with the answer to that single question.

_Why?_

Baby Tooth placed her tiny hand on Jack's neck, and gave a sympathetic trill. Clearly something was up with this whole disappearing business, but how would they find out when it literally couldn't be seen by them? They had so many people on the case now that it almost seemed ridiculous to go after it more. Really, all they could do was wait.

"Well…if everything is said here that needs to be said," Jack stood, flicking his staff up from the floor into his hand, "I think I'm gonna nap for a while."

He never got the chance to do or say more than that.

Because the second he took a single step, golden light filled the room and an explosion of bells and magical chimes rang through the study. North shouted and called the elves to get out, Bunny swore loudly and pulled his boomerangs from their holsters, and Jack stood dumbly while the sand made a mess of North's table.

"…Sandy?"

The Sandman had materialised in a messy, incredible explosion of golden sand that had frightened everyone, and all three of the other guardians in the room simply stared at him. Jack didn't think he'd ever seen the Sandman this distressed. The portly little man was huffing mutely, eyes wide as he tried to control the flurries and eddies of dreamsand.

"Sandy, what's wrong?" Bunny bounded over as soon as they realised whom it was, and shot North a worried look. Jack stood by while they tried to get it out of him, but Sandy wouldn't have it.

He turned as soon as he got his dreamsand under control and shot over to hover in front of Jack.

The little symbols above his head shot past wildly; so quickly that Jack, with his still limited capability of understanding Sandy's method of communication, couldn't keep up.

"Uh, Sandy, you need to slow down."

But the Sandman couldn't seem to; he was so distressed that the symbols zoomed in and out of sight faster than Jack could comprehend.

He was about to ask again when he realised both North and Bunny were completely silent, and he turned to look at them, the question all over his face.

"Jack," North said quietly, and Jack felt cold dread fall into his stomach. "The wraith…Sandy said it was last seen in Burgess…"

North didn't have enough time to respond. In fact, none of them had any sort of time to get a reply out of Jack, or any more information out of Sandy.

The second the word 'Burgess' fell out of North's mouth, Jack was off.

Without care, without any thought to the consequences and with Baby Tooth wailing in terror in his ear, Jack left the north pole faster than he'd ever managed before.

The wraith was in Burgess. Jack needed to be there too.


	5. Jamie

Baby Tooth spent a good fifteen minutes or more clinging to the inside of Jack's hood and screeching shrilly in protest at the speed he was travelling. For the most part, Jack ignored her, his mind only focused on one thing.

_Jamie. Jamie. Jamie._

He left so fast, with a mind and heart in utter turmoil, that he didn't even think to use North's globe to get there. It wasn't until he was nearly a third of the way to the North American continent that it crossed his mind. By that stage, he had let it go and decided to continue as he was. A tirade of thoughts swirled through his head like wildfire, always backed by the continuous fear of what he would find when he reached Burgess.

_Jamie. Jamie. Jamie._

He should have done as the other guardians suggested. He should have stayed with Jamie and spent the time with him and cherished it. He thought he could exist in a world without Jamie, but now that the boy was in danger with the possibility of being lost forever, Jack had only just realised what a fool he was. How selfish he had been in trying to distance himself from the one kid who had never stopped believing.

_Jamie. Jamie. Jamie._

Baby Tooth eventually quieted, and burrowed herself in the hood of Jack's shirt. Her little spot of warmth on the back of his neck kept him grounded enough to realise that she probably needed some form of sustenance, and it was only concern for her that forced him to stop. As desperate as he was to reach Jamie, Baby Tooth needed to be cared for as well.

So, when he reached Alaska, Jack stopped and gently coaxed the little hummingbird fairy out.

"Hey, Baby Tooth," he said, voice a little apologetic. Baby Tooth gave him a look that said _not happy,_ and he grinned weakly. "I guess I got a bit carried away. Are you hungry?"

She nodded her head, and they both turned to take in the surrounds. Where the hell was he going to get food in this landscape? Jack's emotional turmoil had brought a blizzard in his wake, and any berries or fruit that might have been out at this time of year would long have frozen.

"How about we find a village, and I'll swipe some nuts and berries for you from a market."

Baby Tooth frowned and shook her head, obviously not liking the idea of stealing food.

Jack huffed and then gave her a look that pretty much said _well what do you expect me to do? _Baby Tooth shot up out of his hands and then zipped off into a small belt of spindly looking trees.

With an exasperated sigh, Jack followed. It was only his impatience to get to Burgess that made him irritable, and he tried to keep it cool while the little fairy foraged around in the trees.

In minutes, she was back with two blackberries, easily the size of her head. Jack raised his eyebrows.

"Is that all you need?"

Baby Tooth squeaked in assent, and then nibbled down one of the berries in seconds. She offered the other to Jack, but he declined and she did the same to it.

"Do you want to do anything else before we get moving again?"

Baby Tooth shook her head, much more cheerful now, and returned to nestle against the back of Jack's neck. He pulled his hood up to protect her and trap her body heat inside the fabric so she wouldn't catch a chill being so close to his skin, and then he was off.

They had to stop two more times before they finally reached the Pennsylvanian border, once for Baby Tooth to attend to natures call, another so she could get some more food. It was much warmer on the eastern side of the country, spring beginning to change into summer. It wasn't stifling, but warm enough that Jack was a little uncomfortable.

Still, he pushed through.

Within an hour, the outskirts of Burgess finally came into view. The little town was as unchanged as it ever was, shining through the darkness with a homely look.

Jack was just about to shoot off towards Jamie's house before reality set in, and he had to stop.

He pulled up, by luck or coincidence, at the lake where he spent most of his early years. Baby Tooth, sensing something was off, wiggled out of his hood and chirped at him.

"What the hell am I going to do?" Jack said, not particularly talking to anyone. Now that he was here, panic had begun to set in. Not because of the night thief, but because he was _here_. Suddenly, everything hit him at once and he had to sit down, fighting off hyperventilation.

What was he supposed to do when he saw Jamie? A handshake and a pat on the back wasn't going to cut it, not from what he'd heard from the other Guardians. Jamie would have grown up into a gangly teenager by now, and Jack hadn't seen him for years. Would he remember Jamie? Would he _recognise _him? What was he going to say?

It was all too much, and Jack buried his face in his hands, groaning in an agonized way.

"I'm going to have to face up for what I've done, aren't I," he said, this time to Baby Tooth. She nodded seriously, hovering nervously around his head. She was clearly affected by his current emotional state. Jack was glad she was here, at least.

He tried to figure out what he was going to say. Fronting up at Jamie's window was out of the question. It would be an inappropriate way to announce himself to him, and he needed to be more tactful than that.

"I suppose I could get him to come here, if he wants?"

Baby Tooth shook her head and chirruped, and he conceded with a sigh.

"Yeah, that's a pretty shitty way to deal with it."

No matter how much he brainstormed, it was going to be difficult to approach Jamie at all. He didn't know how the boy would react to him coming home, and he didn't want to make some obnoxious entrance as though he had merely left for a short holiday. Not knowing was the worst thing. Jack had always struggled with not knowing. It was partially the reason why he was even in the situation in the first place; the fear of not knowing what would happen as Jamie got older forced Jack to flee. Not knowing why he was supposed to be a Guardian in the beginning caused him years of torment. Not knowing what this thing was taking children was eating at him like corrosion.

And now, it felt like he knew nothing about the Jamie he was about to face. Not knowing what he'd look like as a teenager; no longer a lanky little boy with a bright round face. Not knowing how he would take Jack's return. Not knowing if he would even want to see Jack at all after all this time.

It ate away at Jack's mind, and he sat hunched over the thin sheet of ice covering the lake.

In the moonlight, he caught his reflection in the ice. Eyes drawn and tired with fear and worry, mouth set into a thin line, hair wildly windswept and unkempt. Honestly, he thought he looked a little frightful. Like he was almost ill.

"Does fear count as an illness, Baby?"

Baby Tooth squeaked out a sympathetic laugh and lay a hand on Jack's cheek. He glanced down at her, and she had an expression on her face that he recognised. It was the same 'it'll be okay' expression she wore when she gave him his memories. It gave Jack comfort, and new found courage to do what he had to do.

"I knew there was a reason I liked having you around."

Baby Tooth flushed and gave him a wide, toothy grin.

"Well, there's nothing else to it I guess. Let's get this over with."

Jack stood, Baby Tooth returning to her position in his hood, and walked, rather than flew, up the bank of the lake and across the dimly lit road where Jamie's house was perched. He was holding his breath the whole way.

Jamie was lying face down on his bed when he first heard it. A soft, distinctive sound that despite all the years he'd gone not hearing it, he'd always recognise. For a moment he considered doing absolutely nothing, but his emotions won out and he sat up and turned towards the window.

He was about 90% positive his heart lodged itself somewhere in his throat and his stomach liquidated itself when he saw the windowpane frosting over. It was almost an exact recreation of the very first time he'd seen it happen. Except this time, there was no animated bunny hopping out making his room snow. Instead, the lines being drawn resembled a snowflake. Jamie couldn't see him, but he knew he was there, and without any sort of hesitation, he flew out of his room and down the hall before his brain even registered what his emotions were doing.

Down the steps, out the front door, breath leaving him entirely when he stepped out into the front yard.

The years had been kind to Jamie, was Jack's first thought when he saw him. His face wasn't quite as round as it was when he was younger, and he had clearly grown and filled out; a gangly teen in a body he was still getting used to. His legs looked a bit too long and his neck still a bit narrow to give him the look of a young man in late adolescence.

Jack's breath caught in his throat when Jamie walked out of the house, unsure whether to smile, race over and hug him or remain rooted to the spot and wait the others actions. He could see the emotion all over Jamie's face, but he couldn't quite read his expression as well as he used to.

They stared at one another for what felt like eternity to Jack. Baby Tooth was quiet in his hood, and Jack scarcely dared to breathe.

And then Jamie moved. He moved towards Jack, a look on his face that the latter couldn't identify. Almost on instinct, Jack spread his arms wide anticipating a hug, and gave a weak smile.

"Hey, Jam—."

_SMACK._

Jack reeled back, shock colouring his face as he clutched at what was going to become a spectacular bruise across the side of his mouth. Jamie was breathing hard, fists clenched and rearing one arm back to swing again.

"You, _fucking…hypocrite!_" Jamie shouted, advancing on an utterly thunderstruck Jack as he tried to swing again. Jack managed to dodge them, but it didn't stop him from trying.

"All those years of telling me you'd always be there! All that talk of telling me and Soph you'd look out for us!" He swung again, and Jack shot upwards out of Jamie's reach.

"I'm _sorry_!" Jack whispered, just loud enough for Jamie to hear.

"Sorry doesn't cut it you asshole! I never gave up on you! _Ever_! Even when the others all moved on and started thinking I was crazy! I still never stopped, and you were never there when I needed you!"

"Jamie, please let me explain—"

"_No! _I don't want to hear _anything _you have to say! You already showed me how much you _really cared_, and now look what's happened! Did you only come back because you felt bad? Did the guilt finally catch up with you now that you know your whole _Guardian _schtick is a load of shit?"

"Whoa, wait, hang on, Jamie!"

"No!"

Jamie turned, face red and body trembling, and began to head back towards the house. Sensing he was about to miss out on the one chance he'd have to reconcile with him, Jack shot after him and landed in front of him, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't _touch _me!"

Jamie tried to throw him off, but Jack was still stronger. He kept his expression set and allowed Jamie to continue his angry tirade.

Eventually he wore himself out, and reduced to beating his hands weakly against Jack's chest. His face was wet with tears and Jack finally realised the weight of the mistake he'd made in leaving him.

"Jamie," he said softly, when the other finally quieted into silent sobs, "what happened?"

"Sophie," Jamie whispered, his whole body trembling. "She's gone, Jack. We can't find her anywhere."

Jack felt as though the world beneath him gave way. The spectre had been in Burgess the night before, when Sandy appeared at the pole. It had taken it's child and left nothing but an empty bed.

Sophie was gone.

Jack had failed to do what he had sworn to do, and now Sophie was gone.

He was dimly aware of Jamie still crying against him, and of Baby Tooth gently extracting herself from his hood, but there was nothing on Jack's mind other than Sophie.

Little, blonde Sophie. She'd be about eight or nine now. Jack wasn't quite sure exactly. But Bunnymund spoke of her a great deal after every easter visit, and his stories gave Jack the impression that she was growing into a vibrant young thing, with as much energy as she'd had as a toddler.

"Why…?"

Jack hadn't realised he'd spoken aloud until Jamie sniffed pathetically and wiped his face, looking darkly up at him.

"Why would…Soph get taken like that?" Jack couldn't process his thoughts. He couldn't figure out what he was supposed to do, too numb with shock that one of his worst fears had actually come to pass.

"You know what's doing it?"

Jack glanced down at Jamie, his face deeply troubled. With a heavy sigh, and a heavier heart, he slid an arm around Jamie's shoulders and turned to head toward the house. After all this time, it was only fair that he be filled in.

Once they got back inside, Jamie curled up in his duvet and Jack perched on the end of the bed. There was an awkward silence that was permeated with a sigh on Jack's part. Jamie still refused to look at him, choosing instead to pick at his fingers with a stubborn expression.

"Jamie, I think I owe you an explanation."

"What was your first clue?"

Jack rubbed his forehead, not sure whether or not (ironically enough) he could handle Jamie's cold demeanour right now.

"You have every right to be mad at me, and I just…can you give me a chance to talk to you about why I did…everything?"

Jamie was silent, and Jack took it as assent.

"When I left I was…no. That's not right." Jack took a deep breath, and started again. "You were always the most important person in my life, Jamie. Always. You were the first person to ever see me, and were the only one who never doubted me."

"So why—"

Jack held up a hand and Jamie fell silent.

"If I could have, I'd have found a way to keep you forever. It never mattered to me if the whole world wrote me off and forgot I ever existed, so long as you were still there."

Jamie glanced up at Jack, expression unreadable, and Jack bit his lip.

"So when you started growing up, I became scared. I never doubted you'd stop believing, or that we'd always be friends," a half lie, "but you were _growing_. You weren't a kid anymore. It all hit me that…one day I'm going to…" he swallowed before continuing, "one day I'm going to lose you."

"No you won't!' Jamie exclaimed, but Jack shook his head.

"I will, Jamie. One day, one way or another, you'll be gone from this world and I'll never see you again. Whether it's because you don't want me anymore, or because you'll grow old, you're human. One day, you won't be here anymore."

Jamie was silent, watching Jack with a look that he wasn't sure he wanted to decipher. Jack looked away, face drawn, and stood to move to the window. He folded his arms and as much he didn't want to think about it, he knew it had to be said.

"I don't think I want to be in a world where you're not here. But I have no choice. And I thought…when I left, I thought it would be the right thing. I thought you could grow up and live your life and forget me. I wouldn't have to experience the inevitable.

"But I know now, that was a mistake." Jack turned back to Jamie, his eyes just a tiny bit wet, and moved back to the bed to sit beside him. "Tooth made me realise…I visited her the other day, and she told me that it's better if I could watch you grow and see you live a long, happy life and one day lose you as nature intended, than to never see you again because I was too much of a coward to face it. And I agree with her. I don't want to be a coward. I want to spend your life as your Guardian, making sure you're living and happy, not run away and hide because I can't handle the fact that I'm never going to die."

"Jack," Jamie whispered, but he didn't finish the sentence.

They remained like that for a few more minutes. Silent, both contemplating what Jack had just said.

"Is that why you came back?" Jamie asked, voice quiet.

"Honestly? It wasn't the only reason," Jack admitted. "We've been looking for this child thief that's been moving across the northern Hemisphere. And Sandy came back last night and told us it had been spotted in Burgess. And I guess…" his voice cracked and he hid his face, "I guess the child it took was Sophie."

Jamie fell quiet again, and it wasn't until a loud sniff broke the silence that Jack realised he was crying. Awkwardly, he shifted so he could put an arm around him, and was surprised at how Jamie folded himself against him, sobbing hopelessly into his shoulder.

"Hey," Jack murmured, trying to comfort him, "She's not gone forever, kiddo. We're all on our way to finding out who is behind it, and when we do, they're gonna pay. We'll get her back. I promise."

But even as he said that, Jack's stomach turned. He wasn't at all sure that they could return the children to their rightful homes, but he had every intention of doing everything possible to do so.

"I'm just…so scared…we spent all day talking to police and…" Jamie sniffed and wiped his face, but a few more fat tears leaked out, causing him to bury his head in Jack's neck.

"Mom is beside herself…she thinks it's her fault Sophie is gone. Dad's on his way here and he's going to just…I don't want him to come back. It'll just make things worse."

"I'll make sure she's okay," Jack reassured him, giving a weak smile. "Your Mom and Sophie both."

Silence fell again, and Jack spent the next few minutes comforting Jamie. Eventually the boys sobs quietened from deep, chest wrenching gasps to silent tears that wouldn't stop no matter how much he wiped his face. Jack pegged it to the shock of so many things happening at once.

"I hate you for leaving," Jamie whispered, "but I'm glad you're back."

Jack drew in a deep breath, and nodded. "I hate myself for it too. But I'd rather be here than anywhere else."

Jamie moved then, and Jack glanced down at him. The breath left him when he found himself almost nose to nose with the teen. He was so close. Jack could see every freckle on his face, every eyelash, he could feel his breath on every exhale, and see the way the tears had clung to his eyes and left wet trails down the sides of his nose. It felt like the world stood still, and for a moment, nothing else existed. The silence intensified, and he found himself struggling to breathe. His heart had lodged itself somewhere in his throat, and a faint blush burned at his ears and cheeks. Jamie was looking at him with an emotion he couldn't quite place, but his face was no longer full of hurt and anger. There was something softer there, and for a second, Jack's thoughts were occupied with nothing but the boy in front of him

There was a faint glow outside the window, and the moment was shattered when Baby Tooth, who had been keeping herself quiet this entire time in the back of Jack's hood, screeched and all but gnawed her way through the fabric.

"Baby Tooth?" Jamie asked, surprised.

Jack, however, had turned to see what had made the fairy react so violently, and his eyes zeroed in on the light illuminating the room.

"That's not a street light, is it Jamie?"

"No…my room is always dark."

Baby Tooth shrieked again, tugging on Jack's hair in the direction of the window. In a heartbeat, he was up and peering out, to see the light coming from the direction of a neighbouring house.

"Jamie! Stay here, and don't let anything get in!"

Jamie's confused protest was drowned out by a flurry of wind as Jack shot out the window, Baby Tooth in tow. There was no way that light was coming from any moon, star or street lamp. His heart was thudding in his chest as he flew through the air, pulling up outside the window of the source of the light.

What he saw made him nearly want to vomit.

Inside, sleeping soundly, was a young girl. She couldn't have been older than five. Beside the bed a spectral horse stood, nuzzling her softly.

Jack shouted, and used his staff to blast open the window, hurtling in at the creature. It whinnied in alarm, and the girl woke with a frightened cry.

The horse—no, unicorn; it had one long horn protruding from its forehead—attempted to lift the girl up onto its back, but Jack blasted a stream of ice at it, knocking it aside. The unicorn made another cry, and charged at him, causing Jack to throw himself aside.

Baby Tooth twittered loudly in his ear, and just as he was reorienting himself, Jack saw the spectre leap out the window. He followed it, instructing Baby Tooth to stay with the girl.

The unicorn bolted down the street, heading towards a narrow alley near a corner store. When Jack followed it around the corner, he stopped, feeling sick.

Three young children dozed soundly on the pavement in the alley. With nothing but a soft whinny, the children moved to climb onto it's back. Jack shouted again and shot another blast of ice, but the unicorn managed to avoid it, and with a faint sound that could only be described as laughter, it leapt forwards with all three kids, disappearing with a wisp of glittering white fog.

Jack tried to chase it, but he was confronted with nothing but a brick wall and the echo of the spectres whinny. He stood, staring at the wall, breathing hard while he tried to gather his scattered thoughts.

Three children. Three in one night, spirited away by a barely known creature.

Jack swore and turned to fly back to the house. As he did, he collided head on with a figure he hadn't realised was there.

Jamie fell to the ground with an 'oof', and Jack stood shocked for a moment, before bending down to help him up.

"I couldn't stop it," he said in a low voice. "It just…picked them up and disappeared."

"I saw it," Jamie said, eyes wide and face pale. "It looked like a horse. Is that the thing that took Sophie?"

"Yeah," Jack replied, carding his fingers agitatedly through his hair. "It looks exactly like I was told it would. I couldn't even…it just…"

"Jack," Jamie placed a hand on his shoulder, "you tried. That's worth something, isn't it? And you finally got a good look at it. Maybe it'll help. Just be glad you stopped it from taking any more."

"The girl!" Jack suddenly realised the child he'd caught the spirit trying to take, and he tugged on Jamie's arm to pull him towards the house. He'd left the window a bit of a mess, but at least the child was safe. She was sitting up in her bed, Baby Tooth consoling her with little twitters and chirps. Jack stepped through the remains of the sill, and the girl looked up at him with puffy, wide eyes.

"Hey cutie," he said, reassuring smile in place. "It'll be alright. You'll be safe, okay? Baby Tooth here is the best body guard in the world. Go back to sleep, and I'll make sure you wont have any more scares."

The girl nodded, but instead of lying back in her own bed, she took her pillow and padded out of the room, presumably to her parents room.

Jack sighed and sat down on her bed, head in his hands. Baby Tooth settled on his shoulder, hand on his neck, and Jamie stood just outside, watching on.

"I'll have to call the others," Jack murmured to the hummingbird fairy. "Do you think you could get a message to Tooth for me?"

Baby Tooth chirruped in assent and patted his neck, and Jack stood with a sigh.

"I suppose there's no use sitting about wishing I'd done things differently," he said with a weak smile. "We've got things to do. C'mon, guys. Let's make a game plan."


	6. Black

_Authors Note: _

_Hi friends! This chapter was originally going to be two, but I felt like splitting it would be a disservice, so it's a little longer than normal. BUT. Lots of fun stuff happens. A reminder also that you can find me on my tumblr (homeostaticcherry), and that I'm also tracking the tag 'tfgfic' on there for anything you wish to say or post regarding the fic that you want me to see._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Within the hour of sending word to them, the other Guardians had begun to arrive. The first was North, who solemnly patted Jack's shoulder, but whose eyes also twinkled with mirth when he saw how close he was sticking to Jamie. Second came Sandman, who had managed to find a way to have his nightly work taken care of during his absence. He wouldn't talk about it much however when the others inquired, simply shaking his head with a quiet smile.

It was great to see them, and Baby Tooth had informed them that Toothiana was on her way, but the arrival Jack was dreading the most was that of Bunnymund.

Jack wasn't too sure of the specifics, but over time he'd come to notice a particular attachment the rabbit had with Jamie's baby sister. Tooth had tried to explain it to him once, but to him it just sounded like some shoddy fucking twilight saga shit, and he dismissed it in favour of Bunny taking a more paternal role in the girl's life. However, he was more than aware of the way Bunny tended to linger around Burgess when he could, and how he tended to save his best, most extravagant and decorative Easter eggs for the Bennett kids. Jack had eventually come to realise that it wasn't just a paternal affection for Bunny, but with Sophie still being so young, he made absolutely zero attempt to be anything more than her friend. He suspected that someday Bunny would like to take Sophie as his partner, and a small part of him ached in the knowledge that the rabbit would eventually go through the same heartache that Jack would with Jamie.

Come to think of it, Jack had never really thought of the other Guardians and worldly attachments. He filed that thought away for later reference. Maybe he could confide in one of them his fears and hopes if they had gone through it before. After all, they were all much, much older than he was.

Nevertheless, Jack wasn't quite looking forward to telling Bunnymund that Sophie had been taken. As much brotherly affection he had for him, Jack wasn't quite certain that he'd react in a rational manner when he found out.

North seemed to think so too. He hovered around, searching Sophie's room for any evidence, but found none. Once he'd done that, he tried to engage Jack in conversation about how they'd break her disappearance to Bunny, and what to do about it should things get intense. Afterwards, he moved to Sandy to discuss quietly (or what he thought was quietly) whether or not to use some of Sandy's dream sand on him if he became too agitated.

Jack watched it all in interest, but if he was a hundred percent honest, most of his attention was on Jamie. The boy had greeted the two other Guardians like old friends when they'd arrived, and then promptly passed out on his bed from sheer exhaustion. He probably hadn't slept a wink and been going a hundred miles an hour all day after his sister's disappearance, so he didn't blame him for conking.

Jack hovered close by him anyway, reluctant to put much distance between them now that he was here. He perched himself at the foot of Jamie's bed, the boys legs in his lap while they waited for Bunnymund and Tooth.

The latter arrived first, three or four mini fairies in tow, and as soon as she saw Jack hovering protectively by Jamie's bedside, her face split into the biggest smile she'd ever seen him wear.

"Jack!" She launched herself at him and threw her arms around him, nuzzling into his neck. "I'm so glad you decided to come back."

Jack grinned weakly, and patted her back between her buzzing wings.

"Thanks, Tooth. Honestly, if you hadn't have said anything when I visited the other day, I don't know whether I would have."

Toothiana smiled at him, and leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

"I think you might have," she said softly, "I know you too well. You'd have come back eventually."

Jack snorted softly, and nodded in agreement. It was true. He probably would have eventually. Tooth's advice and the Wraith's appearance simply sealed the deal.

Their moment was cut short when the mouth of a tunnel opened up, and Bunnymund hopped into the room. Instantly, Jack stiffened, and the other Guardian's went quiet.

"Can't even get a g'day when everyone's together. What's going on mate?"

Jack swallowed and looked at North, unsure what to say.

"Bunny," North took the reins and moved to place a hand on Bunnymunds shoulder. "We know Wraith was here last night. Jack came here as soon as Sandy arrived at the pole. The child…"

Jack looked away, preferring to focus on Jamie's form than listen to what was being said. He didn't want to see Bunny's expression when he found out Sophie was gone.

Jamie looked peaceful in sleep. His hair, a little longer and messier than it was when he was a child, was fanned out on his pillow, framing his face in a peaceful halo. Though he wore a stubborn little frown, he still looked like there was very little troubling him in his dreams. Jack was sure Sandy probably had something to do with it, but there was no dancing dream sand around his head so he couldn't be sure. Jamie's breathing was soft and even, the covers gently rising and falling with each breath. Mentally, Jack kicked himself for ever thinking he could stay away from him, and he reached forward on instinct to run his fingers lightly through the soft brown mop of the boy's hair.

Dimly, he was aware of Bunny making sounds of distress, and of Tooth, Sandy and North comforting him. He didn't want to turn and face it, too absorbed by the sleeping teenager. But he knew that ignoring it did nothing.

So, with some effort, he turned back to the others and stood.

Bunny was crouched on the ground, his head in his hands while Tooth gently rubbed his shoulders in sympathy. North looked more upset than Jack had ever seen him, and Sandy stood by with a sad expression.

Jack approached Bunnymund and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing the rabbit to glance up at him. He looked more vulnerable than Jack had ever seen him, even more so than when he'd lost Easter to Pitch's nightmares.

"Bunny," Jack said with some resolve, "we're gonna find her. We know what it is now and we know how it works. We'll find a way to get her back."

Bunnymund swallowed, clearly unconvinced, and Jack grinned and shrugged his shoulders, trying to alleviate the tension.

"Come on, we've been through some tough stuff before. We can do this again. Sophie will be back before you know it."

Bunny smiled weakly and nodded, straightening. He rolled his fuzzy shoulders and exhaled.

"Alright. So we know this thing's been hanging around here. What else can we peg?"

The others turned to Jack then, and he scratched the back of his head, glancing back at Jamie.

"It was a unicorn, like we were told. It looked kind of like a ghost, and it sort of just…I mean, the girl it was trying to take was asleep, and it just made this call and she saw up. We caught it before we could see what else it did, but before it disappeared it made the same call and the kids it already had just climbed onto its back."

"Just like that?" North pondered.

"Yeah. Valkyrie said it was ancient, so I have no idea what sort of power it uses, but they were all still asleep and they just followed it."

They were in the midst of discussing this turn of events when a loud rapping on the window sill caught their attention. All four of them turned to see Sandy, looking disgruntled as he dropped the Perspex he'd been holding.

Jack recognised with a pang the plastic encased snowflake that Sandy had used to attract their attention, but he forced it out of his mind. The portly little man was talking.

Or…signing. For want of a better word.

Jack was much better at understanding him now when he wasn't speaking so fast, so he understood what he was saying quite well.

_There's only one being on this earth older than I am._

Through his peripherals, Jack could see Bunnymund and North exchange glances.

"What do you mean, Sandy?" Said North.

_The Wraith is ancient. But I do not remember it. And there is only one person older than me._

Jack could basically hear Bunny's internal groan.

_We must find Pitch and ask him._

Jack's stomach bottomed out, and he could tell that the others all felt similar.

It had been years since they'd even contemplated Pitch's existence. Jack had kept well away from him as soon as he'd learned that he hadn't quite disappeared altogether after he was swallowed up by his own nightmares, but he wouldn't deny that he'd been curious. Either way, it looked like a visit was in order, and he wasn't entirely looking forward to it.

"Listen mate, the chances of me going near that sack of spuds is between buckleys and none."

Despite the fact that Jack understood exactly half of Bunny's sentence, he tended to agree. He had been curious, but that didn't mean he wanted to see him.

"Isn't there any other way we can figure it out?" asked Tooth, but Sandman shook his head.

_He might have some more knowledge that we don't know._

"As much as I do not want to, I must admit Sandman is right," North added, and he folded his arms, one hand rubbing dejectedly at his forehead. "It might give us idea about this Wraith. Pitch has been around long, long time. And he is no longer dangerous to us. We might learn from him."

Sandman nodded seriously, and the others conceded.

"Yeah, but do we have any idea where he might be?" The last time Jack had heard from Pitch, he was flitting through the shadows weakly, hiding more than anything. He could be anywhere.

"He always goes back to his lair," Tooth replied, her expression a little sour. She'd never quite got over the sight of her fairies caged and terrified in the depths of Pitch's abode.

"That place is creepy," Jack muttered. "If we don't have to go there, the better for it."

_This isn't about us._

The other Guardians had to concede to that. They weren't looking for a comfortable trip of sightseeing. They had work to do, and it was going to be gritty.

"Alright. When do we go?" Tooth asked. "He avoids daylight, so should we leave now and see if we can find him?"

"Find who?"

The voice from the other side of the room caught all their attention, and they turned to see Jamie sitting up in bed, eyes wide. When had he woken up?

"Find who?" Jamie repeated, and Jack glanced at Toothiana.

"Pitch," he admitted, and Jamie's face paled.

"What? Why do you want to find him? He's horrible! I _still _get nightmares from him!"

Jack moved to Jamie's side, hand on his shoulder.

"We think he might have some information that could help us get Sophie back. He's not dangerous anymore Jamie."

"He tried to _kill _me!"

Jack grit his teeth, not wanting to remember.

"I know, but this could be our only lead. Don't worry, we're not going to get in trouble."

"I'm coming with you."

The resolve in Jamie's voice caught even North off guard, and they all turned to look at each other. Uncertainty was etched on all of their faces, and even Tooth looked like she didn't like the idea.

"Jamie…"

"No, I don't care what you have to say Jack. I'm coming with you and I don't care how dangerous it is."

Jack could feel his stomach turning. He didn't want to risk Jamie's safety, and being anywhere near Pitch Black constituted a risk. It didn't matter how weak the bogeyman had become, he was still a potential danger, and Jack didn't want to think about what he could pull.

"Jack," North spoke. He beckoned to Jack and they both retreated from the room. North could obviously tell that Jack was caught off guard, and he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Jamie is no longer a boy," he said, in that soft paternal voice he managed to summon up on rare occasions. "Perhaps it might be okay for him to come. You—"

"No," Jack cut him off, voice flat. "He's not going anywhere near Black."

"Jack," North said patiently, standing up so he was at his full height. Even in the tone he was using, the stature was intimidating. "Dictating Jamie's choice will not make up for absence."

Jack clenched his fist at that, letting out a low hiss. That one definitely stung. He glared away, little icicles forming at the tips of his fingers as he fought the bile that rose up in his throat. North seemed to notice that even that was a low blow, and he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"It is not your decision to make, Jack," he said with finality. "If Jamie wants to find his sister, he has every right to come with us."

Jack didn't answer, but he knew the discussion was over. He pushed open the bedroom door without a word and stalked in, moving to lean up against the wall beside Tooth. Baby Tooth was perched on her shoulder, and she instantly moved to his where he gave her a small grin.

North must have said something to Jamie, because the boy made a triumphant noise and leapt out of bed, pulling off his night shirt and rummaging through his drawers to find something to wear.

"Pack something warm," Jack said flatly. "It could get cold."

And that was the end of that.

Within an hour, the troupe had discussed their plan of attack and was ready to go. Instead of moving around together to look for Pitch, they were going to fan out again like they had with the beings and search separately. It was an unspoken agreement that Jamie would be travelling with Jack.

North picked up his snowglobe after they had made their final agreements where to meet (North's workshop) and with a whisper into it, a portal had materialised. North and Tooth both stepped through, mini fairies in tow (Baby Tooth had begrudgingly conceded to go with her Queen) and disappeared. Bunny placed a hand on Jack's shoulder in farewell, tapped his foot and shot off down through his tunnels. The Sandman bid them goodbye as well, and disappeared through the window.

With that, Jack and Jamie were alone.

They stood staring at one another for a second, before Jack looked away, rolling his shoulders in an effort to seem nonchalant.

"I know you don't want me to come with you."

Jack stiffened, but didn't turn to face him.

"I want to find Sophie as well."

He inspected his fingers, nodding.

"I'm sorry."

At that though, Jack turned, fixing Jamie with a bewildered look.

"Sorry? What the hell for?"

He was caught off guard with how vulnerable Jamie looked, and he groaned inwardly, before moving over to slide an arm awkwardly around his shoulders.

"You're worried I'm just gonna get in your way," Jamie said pathetically, and Jack shook his head so hard he was surprised he didn't pop his neck.

"That's not it at all, Jamie. No way. I just." He exhaled, before stepping back again. "I don't want to see you get hurt. I don't want to…I don't know. I'm being stupid."

Jamie smiled weakly, and Jack returned it. For a moment they remained like that, and Jack was once again caught off guard by the intensity of his affection for the teen. He couldn't figure it out, and his breath caught in his throat at the way Jamie was looking at him. He felt stripped bare under that gaze, and he didn't know how to feel about it.

"Jack—"

"Let's get going, shall we? We can start with Pitch's old hideout. It's not that far from here…"

Jack knew he was babbling as he kept talking, but he couldn't help it. He felt exposed under Jamie's gaze and he didn't know what to do with that feeling, so he set about collecting the things they'd need, picking up his staff and handing Jamie his rucksack. Somewhere in the middle of his blabber, he heard Jamie sigh quietly, but he paid no mind to it. Well, he pretended not to anyway.

Once they were outside, they kept at a steady pace. It was warm enough to make Jack just slightly uncomfortable, but nothing he couldn't bear. He kept quiet while they walked, making a beeline for the line of trees that hid Pitch's old hideout.

He got the feeling that Jamie wanted to talk several times, but each time he started, Jack steered the conversation away, asking Jamie about his life during his absence. He knew it all already, of course, having been filled in by the other Guardians on their annual visits to the Bennett household. Still, it gave Jamie something to talk about and gave Jack time to think.

He couldn't figure out the strange sensations that burned through him whenever Jamie looked at him. They were unfamiliar, intense and a little frightening, unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. They had never occurred before he'd disappeared from Jamie's life for those few years, so he didn't understand what they meant now. He wished he could talk to someone about it.

Jack mentally began running through his mind the pros and cons of talking to each of his companions about the strange emotions, when he realised Jamie was trying to get his attention.

"Are you even listening anymore?"

"Yeah, sorry I was…uh. Strategising. What were you saying?"

"I was saying Nieve wants to meet up with me tomorrow seeing as it's the weekend and meet her family, but I don't know—"

"Hang on, who is Nieve?"

Jamie sighed exasperatedly, but answered anyway.

"I said she's the girl I'm sort of seeing. Nothing's really official, but—"

"Seeing? What do you mean by that?"

"Really, Jack? Three hundred and ten years and you've never heard that?"

"I was solitary for most of it! And I'm only three hundred and seven!" Jack replied indignantly, and Jamie laughed quietly.

"It means we're kind of…together. But not officially."

"As in, courting?"

"Yes, grandpa. I'm courting my wee lass."

Jack shoved Jamie playfully, laughing at the teasing, but inside his guts were crawling. They certainly were active that night.

Jamie had a girlfriend? Why didn't anyone bring that up with him when they visited him? Surely that would have been important information to share.

And then Jack had to wonder to himself; _why _was it important information? It wasn't like Jamie was obligated to tell him anything. Hell, he wasn't even obligated to within a hundred mile radius, but still. Why did the knowledge that Jamie might have found himself a partner cause such a strong reaction within him? He felt bitter, almost as though it were unfair, that he didn't want to share Jamie with _anyone_—.

Oh.

It clicked in Jack's mind that what he was feeling was jealousy. He was jealous of the fact that Jamie had a girlfriend. Which, in itself, brought up a hundred more questions about why he was jealous, and what right he even had to feel that way.

It was all too confusing, and he shook his head, trying to focus.

Jamie was still talking about this girl Nieve, and Jack made non-committal noises whenever he thought it was appropriate, despite the fact he'd tuned right out. He didn't want to listen to that. Privately, he thought that if he looked in a reflective surface right about then, he'd be confronted with not icy blue eyes, but vivid green ones.

Stupid.

They chatted for a while longer, finally getting off the conversation of _Nieve _(he even thought her name vehemently. This was just dumb), until they reached the spot where Pitch's desolate wooden bed once stood. There was nothing there now but a faint indent in the sand, and Jack gazed at it with a frown on his face.

"How do we get down there?"

"What's down there?" Jamie said, and he realised that Jamie had never seen Pitch's lair.

"It's where Pitch used to hide out. There was a hole in the ground here underneath a bed frame. But it's gone and I don't know whether the lair would have filled in or not. I think Tooth said he still hung around here though, didn't she?"

Jamie shrugged, and stepped closer to inspect the soft ground.

In the blink of an eye, a sinkhole opened up around them. The ground rippled in a strange manner, and then yawned open right around the area where the two stood.

Jack managed to shoot upright, but in a blind moment of stupidity, he forgot that Jamie couldn't fly. The ground swallowed him up while he shouted for help, terror colouring his expression as his eyes locked with Jack's. Jack, without hesitating, shot back down and gripped Jamie's outstretched wrist, but when he tried to pull him out he found that the hole had closed and they were trapped. There was only one way to go but down.

So Jack shrugged, deciding to make a game of it, and slicked up the tunnel with ice. He laughed as he let go of Jamie, both of them skidding down the icy lengths despite the nature of the situation they were in. It was better to laugh going into the unknown than to wait around in fear.

They landed in the darkness of a room very familiar to Jack.

Cages still hung from the ceilings of the dark, stony cavern, but this time the floor was bare of the canisters that littered it the last time Jack was here. There was an air of thickness, a stuffy feeling of dread that permeated the bones and made the adrenaline begin to flow, but the place was utterly, completely silent.

Until a very familiar, sickly sweet voice sounded through the room.

"Oh, Frost. Of all the people I'd hoped would come find me, you are definitely on my top three."

Jack whirled around, keeping his stance ready as he leapt in front of Jamie in the face of the familiar figure before him.

Whatever his defeat had done to him, Pitch had changed very little since the last time Jack saw him. His eyes weren't quite as vibrant, and his hair had grown long and unkempt, but other than that he was much the same.

"You look so surprised to see me," he said, smiling sweetly. There was an air of danger beneath it though, and Jack didn't lower his guard. "I thought you were looking for me."

"We are, but that doesn't mean I trust you," Jack shot back and Pitch pretended to look wounded.

"Why are you so afraid? You know there's nothing I can do now. You're much stronger than I am. Isn't that everything you wanted, Jack?"

Jack hissed, and Jamie elbowed him out of the way, realising that he was just falling into Pitch's trap.

"We're here for a reason," he said, surprising Jack with the force behind his words. "Tell us what you know about the unicorn Wraith."

Pitch raised an eyebrow (or what would be his eyebrow if he had any) and then laughed.

"The unicorn Wraith? You mean your precious guardians don't know anything about it at all?"

"Yes!" Jamie shot back, completely unfazed. "But you're the oldest and we want to know what you know!"

"Tell me, Jamie," Pitch responded, a malicious glint in his eye, "has working with them brought you the things you wanted?"

Jamie fell silent, glaring, and Jack moved to stand beside him.

"That's got nothing to do with it, Black," he said coldly. "Tell us what you know."

"Or what? Are you going to freeze me, _Frost_? That's all you can do isn't it? How will you get the answers out of me if I can't talk?"

Jack grit his teeth, but didn't reply.

Pitch laughed and faded into the darkness, leaving the two boys off guard.

"The Wraith is nothing but a manifestation. A worker for its master who has existed for centuries."

Pitch's voice echoed off the stone, and they turned to see him wandering idly past the empty cages, touching them in a way that seemed almost wistful. Jack followed him, eyes narrowed as he continued.

"It comes and goes as it pleases, and has been for as long as I can recall. We used to work hand in hand, he and I. Oh, the fear his actions would bring upon the families of the children he took! It was like an endless stream of comfort. Perhaps he heard tell of what you did to me, and is looking for his own brand of revenge."

"Who is _he_," Jack spat, his staff aimed at Pitch's back.

"Oh, now that would be too easy, wouldn't it?" the nightmare king turned and fixed Jack with an amused look. "I know you're terrified of what he's doing, Jack Frost. I _know _his actions are making you doubt your very purpose. Because where is the _fun _if there are no children to share it with?"

Jamie placed a hand on Jack's elbow, and looked like he was about to step forward to talk when Pitch spoke again. This time, to him.

"And you, _Jamie. _You're terrified that you'll never see your baby sister again. I can feel it all around me, and it is _delicious_."

"Tell us who owns the Wraith!" Jamie said, though his voice had lost some of its vehemence.

"And that's not the only thing you're afraid of, is it Jamie?"

"Tell me!"

"You're afraid that as soon as Frost is finished here, he'll disappear again and you'll never see him again."

Jack felt his gut clench and his stomach lodge itself in his throat. He had to pause, but Jamie stood firm, though his body was trembling slightly.

"It's a valid fear, if you ask me," Pitch appeared behind them both, and they whirled around. He was smiling a malicious grin, hands behind his back as he slowly advanced on them. "He left you for so long already, after _swearing _to always be by your side. How can you trust him?"

"Stop it!" Jamie finally cracked, and he shouted at Pitch, but Jack gripped his arm as he held his staff out, halting Pitch in his tracks.

"Oh, but that's not all, is it?" Pitch whispered, and Jack felt Jamie tense beside him.

"Pitch," he warned, fists clenched hard around his staff. Icicles were forming along its length, and the air around them rapidly cooled as Jack's anger began to grow.

"What, Frost? Are you afraid of what I'm saying is true? Afraid that Jamie's fears are valid and very, very _real_?"

Jack shot a blast of ice at the other and Pitch disappeared with a laugh, melting into the shadows again and causing the boys to search for him frantically. Jack hovered in the air, slightly in front of Jamie in a ready position.

"Of course you are," the voice came from above them this time, and they both glanced up to see Pitch standing on a ledge, laughing maliciously. "You know Jamie has every reason to fear that you'll leave again. The only difference is this time you'd run because you're too afraid to admit your feelings."

Another blast of ice narrowly avoided Pitch this time, and Jack practically howled as he flew up after him. He knew he was being played, but he couldn't help it. His guilt, self doubt and uncertainty were all boiling up inside him every time Pitch spoke and he couldn't deal with it.

"Jack!" Jamie called from below, "Jack stop, come down here! He's only toying with you!"

Jack ignored him though, whirling around to try and find where the master of fear would be hiding next. He felt stupid thinking they could come here and just get the information they wanted, and his pride was bruised because of it.

And then he froze when something hard and very, very sharp pressed itself to his throat.

"Of course," Pitch's voice whispered in his ear, "you have every reason to be afraid too, you know."

Jack hissed, but anything he might have done was halted as Pitch suddenly disappeared again. Jack was left disoriented and confused, and he spun around trying to find him, feeling incredibly vulnerable all of a sudden.

"Jack!"

Jamie's voice was no longer certain and emphatic. It was utterly terrified. Jack turned and he felt his insides all but liquefy as he faced Jamie.

Pitch was behind him, smiling that same maliciously sweet smile, the knife now at Jamie's throat. He looked as frightening as he had the night the guardians and kids had vanquished him, clearly soaking up the fear that he was manipulating out of the two boys.

"Jamie!"

"Stay there, Frost," Pitch said, sounding bored. "You might not care if I snuff you out, but I know you won't be happy if I dispose of your _last light_."

Jack felt bile rise in his throat, but he remained where he was.

"Tell me who controls the Wraith," Jack said, voice deceptively calm as he kept his gaze focused on the pair below him.

"All in good time," Pitch sang, running the knife almost lovingly along the skin of Jamie's jaw. "Now, Jamie, why don't you tell Jack how you really felt about him leaving?"

"He knows how I felt," Jamie responded weakly, his expression petrified. "Oh but he doesn't know all of it, does he?"

Jamie visibly swallowed, and Jack frantically began to plan.

Pitch was using Jamie as a shield. Jack couldn't fire at him without risking Jamie. But the entire cavern was made of stone. Ice didn't often stick or absorb into stone. If he could shoot at the right angle, he might catch him from behind.

Discreetly, Jack began to search the room for a good angle to aim at. He didn't need his staff anymore, and he was sure that Pitch didn't know that, which was an advantage to him because said staff was now lying forgotten on the ground beneath him, where he'd left it after being surprised by Pitch behind him.

He was so busy trying to figure out how to get away that he wasn't paying attention to what Pitch was saying, but when Jamie spoke his focus zeroed in on him. Jamie's eyes were fixed on Jack, wide with fear. Jack gave him a smile, trying to calm him with a little mischief like he had the last time Pitch had them cornered. He tried to give him comfort and let him know nonverbally that it would be okay.

Jamie didn't look convinced.

"What if I made you my little pet," Pitch was saying, and Jamie shuddered. "I could bind you to me, you know. I could make you do everything I wanted, and you'd have no choice."

"No," Jamie moaned, and Pitch cackled.

"How would you feel then, knowing your precious Jack is out there free while you're here with me, forever tied to my will? Does that scare you, Jamie Bennett?"

Jamie hiccupped, but otherwise didn't respond.

"Of course it does…your fear of everything else coupled with that…"

"Stop," Jamie pleaded.

Jack felt helpless. He cast around again trying to find a decent angle, but was once again stalled by Pitch's torment.

"All your fears that Jack would never return your feelings," Pitch was saying, "all the fears that he'd leave you if he knew…"

"_STOP IT!"_

Pitch laughed then and Jack seized his chance. He called up all his power and with an almighty shout, shot an intense stream of ice at the ledge just above Pitch. Wind, cold and biting, whipped up around them, followed by angry clouds as snow began to belt down inside the cavern. The cages rattled and clanged, and fog descended in the room as the temperature dropped to freezing.

Jack shot forwards, down towards the two beneath the cascading ice and stone and managed to snatch Jamie out, unaware of the ice that was wrapping itself around his body. Jamie screamed and Jack let go of him, letting him fall softly to the ground as he landed beside him.

"Stay here," he whispered harshly against the wind, and he turned back to where Pitch had been.

The fog was dense, and the room freezing now, and Jack remained on guard as he approached the place where Pitch was.

With a wave of his hand the wind subsided, taking the fog with it and clearing the air around them.

Jack couldn't help but laugh at the sight he was confronted with. Pitch was caught in the same position he had been, one arm extended with the knife still clutched in his hand. He was encased in ice up to his neck, effectively rendering him utterly helpless.

Jack approached him and placed one hand on his forehead, calling the frost to slowly seep through his fingers.

"Tell me who owns the Wraith," he said, fingers tightening in Pitch's ragged hair. The other had an expression of utter shock, and it would have been funny if the situation was different.

"You'll have to do more than that to get it out of me," Pitch snarled, and Jack wrenched his head back, making him grunt with the force of it.

"Tell me, or I'll freeze you like this for the rest of eternity," he said, voice dangerously low. "You're not a threat to me anymore, Pitch. I can easily lop off your head right now. You'll be the headless nightmare for the rest of your life, running around chasing your head and trying to find it after I've kicked it into oblivion."

Pitch hissed, and Jack glared him down.

Their standoff lasted only moments, Pitch apparently having learned when to concede defeat.

"The Pied Piper," he muttered, and Jack exhaled a frosty breath, releasing him to stand back.

"You're a waste of space," he spat, stepping back and turning to face Jamie.

"Release me!" Pitch screamed, and Jack gave him a hard look over his shoulder. He bent down to pick Jamie up, the boy shivering in his arms with the cold of the cavern.

"You can stay there like that," he said flatly. "If the cold doesn't kill you, you can remain in that ice until it melts away. I'll teach you to fuck around with me, Pitch. I'm not the weak kid I was when you last saw me."

With Jamie in his arms, he approached Pitch's frozen form again and leaned in, voice dangerous.

"And if you ever try to hurt Jamie again, I will fucking kill you."

Without another word, ignoring Pitch's angry screams, Jack turned and left the cavern.


	7. Spring

Jack was livid as they exited the cavern, a whirlwind of emotions flying through him like molten lava. He didn't know what to feel and that made him even more frustrated. His skin was crawling with the guilt that he had put Jamie in danger, his mind occupied with thoughts of the things Pitch had said, and his heart aching with the look on Jamie's face when Pitch had him hostage. But most of all, he was insanely angry with himself for falling so easily into Pitch's trap. He should have known that the bogeyman would try and play on their fears, despite the fact that he wasn't as strong as he had been seven years ago. Jack should have known that taking Jamie there was risky, and he should have tried harder to stop him from coming along.

He wasn't paying any attention to where he was going, and it wasn't until Jamie gave a weak tug at his hoodie did he wrench himself from his thoughts. Jack paused mid air, still holding Jamie, and blinked down at him as though surprised he was there.

"I'm cold," Jamie said weakly, and Jack mentally kicked himself.

"Let's go back to your place," was all he said, and Jamie nodded.

Jack propelled himself as fast as he could, knowing Jamie was in danger of catching a chill if he stayed the way he was too much longer. The boy was already shivering and pale, though whether that was from the cold or shock at what they'd just been through, Jack had no idea.

They reached the Bennett house within minutes. Once inside, Jack gently deposited Jamie on his bed, tugging the duvet up to drape it over his shoulders. It was probably the first time that Jack had ever wished he had the power to create warmth, because it looked like Jamie could really use some right now.

"Why don't you try and rest," he suggested, but Jamie shook his head.

"I might go make myself a hot cocoa," he mumbled, and with the blanket still wrapped around him, he picked himself up and shuffled out of the room.

Jack took the brief opportunity to let his emotions overtake him, and he curled up in on himself, crouched on the floor of the room as all of the guilt, fear, doubt and anger returned with a vengeance. Pitch had used Jamie like a disposable toy, baiting Jack with him and conjuring up some of his darkest fears to use them against him. What was more, he seemed to know exactly what Jack's muddled feelings meant, and he drew upon those as well. It was all too much, and for the first time in a long time Jack felt himself lose control, though only to the point that a furious out of season blizzard began to take hold outside.

Damn, that wouldn't be good for the Spring seedlings. He'd probably be hearing from the Spring spirit for that.

But Jack remained where he was, trembling while he tried to come to terms with the sight of Jamie caught in Pitch's hold, the look on his face and the way Jack felt so defeated when he saw him like that. It was hell. And it would be something that would undoubtedly stick by him for a long time.

Jack wasn't aware of how long he spent curled up like that. When he became aware of his surroundings again, it was because a warm hand had laid itself on his shoulder.

"Hey," Jamie murmured, kneeling down in front of him. "Are you okay?"

Jack swallowed the bile in his throat and nodded weakly.

"I made you some tea," said Jamie, offering him a steaming cup. "Except I wasn't sure whether you'd like a hot drink or not…but it's there."

Jack smiled at that. No, he wasn't too keen on hot drinks, but the offer was nice. Plus, he could always let it cool and drink it cold.

"Thanks," he said, taking the cup from Jamie. He straightened and set the tea on Jamie's desk, murmuring that he'd let it cool a bit before he had any, and watched as Jamie shuffled back to his bed.

"What about you, are you okay?"

Jamie glanced up at him, and Jack noticed a faint blush on his face, which he quickly hid behind the mug of hot chocolate.

"'m fine," he said, but Jack wasn't convinced. "Really, I am. I was scared back there, but we got out alright didn't we? And we got the information we wanted. So that's that."

Jack twisted his mouth, but didn't argue.

They fell silent for a second, Jamie inspecting his mug and Jack inspecting Jamie. What was it Pitch had said about Jamie's fears? There was something there niggling at him that he couldn't quite place, but he felt like it was important. It was when he had cornered him and said something about…

"Jami—"

"So the Pied Piper, huh?" Jamie interrupted, voice a little higher than normal. He looked nervous and twitchy which Jack didn't like, but he didn't force it. "What do you know about him?"

"Absolutely nothing. You?"

"I've heard of him. I can't remember where though…I think this calls for some research."

Jamie pulled his laptop off the bedside table, which Jack shuffled over to marvel at (he was still fascinated by computers, despite his age), and started clicking away.

For a few moments there was silence, only permeated by the sound of Jamie typing on his keyboard.

"Here."

Jamie turned the computer around and Jack leaned in to see what he had found. The page he had open was a Wikipedia article. With a furrowed brow, Jack began to read.

_"The Pied Piper of Hamelin (German: Rattenfänger von Hameln) is the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great number of children from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in multicolored clothing, leading the children away from the town never to return. In the 16th century the story was expanded into a full narrative, in which the piper is a rat-catcher hired by the town to lure rats away with his magic pipe. When the citizenry refuses to pay for this service, he retaliates by turning his magic on their children, leading them away as he had the rats. This version of the story spread as a fairy tale. This version has also appeared in the writings of, amongst others, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the Brothers Grimm and Robert Browning."_

Jack frowned and jabbed at the screen, causing Jamie to make a disgruntled noise and pull it away.

"It says he lured rats though."

"It goes on to say he has a few different stories surrounding him though," Jamie said, turning the screen back and reading through it with a furrowed brow. "Here…'_Wild Magic by Cat Weatherill tells the legend with a twist, following the children as the piper brings them to a world of magic where they are transformed into animals_'. And this… '_Pied Piper appeared as a bounty hunter, paid by Rumpelstiltskin to hunt Shrek and princess Fiona in the movie Shrek Forever After_'. So there's tales of him as more than just a flute player…maybe there's more to him than just a pipe."

Jack ran his fingers through his hair, groaning at the revelation. Despite the fact that they now had at least an idea of who was behind the disappearances, they still knew very little about the Piper himself.

"We'll have to call the others."

"Not Just yet."

Jamie's tone surprised Jack, and he turned to look at him, question in his eyes.

"I…um. Wanted to explain to you a few things. I guess now is as good a time as ever…I mean we wont get much time alone after this."

"Explain what?" Jack said curiously as he moved to perch on the end of Jamie's bed.

"Well…some of the things Pitch said."

Jack couldn't help it; he scowled and looked away. In hindsight it probably made Jamie even more nervous, but his response was to the mere mention of the bogeyman, not about the subject at hand.

"He was talking shit, Jamie."

"The thing is though…he wasn't."

Jack's head snapped around, shock colouring his expression as Jamie recoiled a little.

"Wasn't? That's all he does, Jamie. Plays on your insecurities and exaggerates them into utter insanity."

"Not the part about you leaving," Jamie said, so quietly that Jack had to shut up to listen. "The part about…my f—"

"Jamie…"

Jack didn't know how to finish the sentence, but he closed his eyes and turned his head away. He needed to talk to one of the other Guardians about this, because he didn't understand it. The emotions were bubbling up inside him, and he felt weak and vulnerable. It didn't sit well with him.

"I need to…take a time out."

"Jack, wait." Jamie put a hand on Jack's, and he unconsciously curled his fingers around it, enjoying the warmth of Jamie's skin. "I need to talk to you about it because…I just do."

"Can we talk about it later?"

Jack's eyes opened a little when he felt Jamie's hand on the side of his face, and he let himself turn so he could meet Jamie's gaze. Once again, Jack was caught in the depths of his eyes. The same exposed feeling descended on him as before, and his breath hitched in his throat. Jamie was looking at him with an expression he couldn't read, and the entire unfamiliarity of the situation was both unnerving and a little exhilarating. But Jack didn't feel right being in this situation without any clue about what was happening, and for all his attempts to hide his vulnerability, it felt like Jamie could read him like a book.

"Jack, I—"

"Please, Jamie," Jack whispered, voice pleading. "Can we talk about it later? I need to…figure myself out."

Jamie sighed and lowered his hand then, retreating into his cocoon of blankets. He pushed the laptop aside and curled up on the bed, and Jack had the distinct feeling that Jamie was disappointed.

"Besides," he said, trying to sound a little more cheerful, "you have to see Nieve tomorrow, don't you?"

The name bought a bitter taste in his mouth, and he was secretly glad that Jamie couldn't see his expression.

Jamie gave a noncommittal shrug, and Jack sighed, rubbing his forehead. This was all so damn confusing. He needed to talk to North.

Silence descended on the room as Jamie appeared to settle into an uneasy sleep, and Jack watched him quietly. He quickly became impatient with that and stood, circling the room to observe some of the knick knacks Jamie had accumulated. The Perspex snowflake was on the windowsill, and Jack picked it up. It weighed heavily in his hands; a reminder of the broken promises he'd left behind when he'd taken the cowards way out, and he felt sick looking at it. He placed it back where it had been, and trailed his fingers across the desk. There were papers littering it with half written essays and letters, and an open text book that was highlighted and marked. On most of the papers, little doodles dotted the margins and even the middle of the page on some.

Jack's fingers nudged a wire bound book that was stuffed under several heavy text books, and he tugged it out. The front was a plain black cover, and when he opened it, the thick paper on the front page told him it was a sketchbook. The front page was covered in small doodles, quite impressive ones really, and as Jack flipped through, he noticed that Jamie's drawing skill was quite impressive. There were drawings of kids playing in the snow, some of Sophie laughing, Jamie's mother made a few appearances and some pages were filled with simple landscapes of the trees surrounding the town.

Jack found himself immersed, and he perched on Jamie's computer chair, flipping through each drawing admiringly. Most of them were done in graphite or pencil, but there were a couple of biro drawings here and there.

When he'd finished the first notebook, he found himself wanting to see more, and so he went looking. A quick search through the desk drawers revealed three more books, and Jack picked up each one to flip through with an air of reverence.

The last book though, caught him off guard. Instead of the first page being littered with little doodles and markings like the first three, this one had only two words written in Jamie's messy scrawl.

_Jack Frost._

With his heart lodged in his throat, Jack turned the page and was confronted with an image of himself that could rival even one a mirror would provide. It was a simple head and shoulders shot, but in the picture he was smiling, and Jamie had mapped out every detail of him right down to every little bead of ice at the top of his hoodie.

Throat dry, Jack turned the page. There he was, perched on his staff with a mischievous grin on his face. This one was drawn in blue biro, and was a little sketchier. He could see the faint guidelines Jamie had used to map out his form. At the bottom, Jamie had written in tiny writing, _mischief maker_.

Jack had no idea how old these drawings were, but as he flipped through, the pictures became progressively wistful looking. There was one of Jack sitting on a tree branch facing away, the moonlight (Jamie had even managed to render god damn moonlight, Jack marvelled quietly) reflecting off his snowy hair and skin. At the bottom, in nearly illegible writing, Jamie had written _I miss you_.

Feeling like he'd been hit with a baseball bat, Jack closed the notebook without looking further, placing it on top of the others. He turned to look at Jamie, who was now sleeping much more restfully. Quietly, he padded over so he could see his face, and he had to fight to stop himself from doing anything rash.

Instead, he brushed Jamie's hair out of his face, and leaned down to press a soft kiss to his forehead. Jamie mumbled incoherently but otherwise didn't stir.

Straightening, Jack moved back to the desk and took a blank piece of paper, pausing while he tried to figure out what to write.

After about ten minutes of scribbled out words and frustration, he settled for a short, simple message.

_Jamie,_

_I need to think. I'll be back as soon as I can. I left my staff behind. take care of it until I get back?_

_Jack._

He figured that leaving his staff there would give Jamie some reassurance that he'd return. After all, he rarely went anywhere without it.

Jack left the note on top of Jamie's laptop, and with that he departed through the window. He had planned to go to the north pole to get some reassurance, but common sense told him he would be there in a day or two anyway, and making such a journey without the help of North's globes would be pointless at the moment.

So he hopped through the trees, casually making his way through the morning sun.

He found himself almost inexplicably drawn to the small pond where he was reborn, and headed in that direction without really thinking about it. At this time of year the pond was no longer frozen, but Jack stepped out onto it anyway. The water beneath his feet froze instantly, and he wandered across the surface, taking in the familiar sights.

He might have had a bit of time to think if he'd been left alone for a while.

As it were, the Spring spirit he'd anticipated made her appearance quite a bit sooner than expected.

"What is going on here!" She swooped gracefully into the clearing, which was still covered in little globs of snow thanks to the blizzard Jack had caused mere hours earlier.

"Winter, what is the meaning of this? Look what you've done to all my shoots!"

"Sorry, Spring," Jack replied dully, and the spirit turned to look at him curiously.

Spring was a petite little being, pixie like and followed endlessly by a small swarm of pollinating bees. She often had run ins with Jack, thanks to his uncanny ability to cause unexpected snow storms halfway through her season, and while at first it had been frustrating for her, now she knew it was usually out of mischief.

"What's got your bean sprouts in a twist?" She asked, bouncing over the surface of the water to hover in front of Jack's face.

"I don't want to talk about it," he replied, lightly swatting her away.

She dodged easily, and quirked her head a little.

"You ruined all my seedlings," she replied, folding her arms. "I think that warrants an explanation on why you decided to call a blizzard in the middle of May."

Jake sighed exasperatedly, and then shrugged, painting little ice patterns in the pond beneath him.

"I'm stressed out," he said. "This Wraith thing has gone after people I care about and…ugh. It's not even worth talking about."

"The child-thief?"

"Yeah."

Spring paused, looking contemplative, but then leaned in so she was nearly nose to nose with Jack.

"I know that look when I see it, Winter," she said with a grin. "Who's the lucky guardian?"

"What?"

"Is it Tooth? Oooh I thought you and Tooth called it quits! Or is it one of the others? I didn't think you'd be the type to—"

"What are you talking about?" Jack stared at her incredulously, but the flush in his face was hard to ignore. He could feel the warmth in his cheeks from the slight colouring, and huffed.

"They aren't…a guardian. Or being, for that matter."

"It's a mortal?" Spring looked surprised, but not entirely horrified like he thought she might have. Perhaps it was more common than he thought for the ethereal's of the world to court humans.

Jack swallowed, and then nodded, looking away.

Spring didn't reply. She perched on his knee, and tapped her chin.

"Well, why are you so beat up about it?"

"Because…he's _mortal_," Jack said emphatically. "How can I…I mean…He's not going to be around forever, and I don't know whether I can handle it…is it even a thing that can happen?"

"Of course!" Spring replied. "Remember Hercules? He fell for a mortal girl, remember?"

"Yeah but he became human. I don't think that'll happen here."

"That's not the point. He was immortal when they met, and that didn't stop them!"

Jack sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"I really don't think you're the best person to be talking about with this, Spring. No offence. But your thing is all about rebirth and new life. Death isn't a thing you have to think about much."

"You think so, huh?" she replied, expression turning serious. "Every year I dedicate my life to bringing things to life. Animals have their babies, trees sprout their flowers and the plants bear their fruit. I turn the soil and plant the seedlings and bring them to life and nurture them. And what happens every time Summer has left his mark and Autumn comes to take his place? And when you bring the cold and snow with you?"

Jack looked away.

"They die," he murmured.

"Exactly. I plant the seeds and bring new animals into the world knowing that the very same year they will wither and die, no matter how beautiful they are. And you know what I do?"

Uuugh. These fucking questions.

"I don't know."

"I do it all again!"

She tapped him lightly on his nose, and with her hands on her hips, straightened and hovered in front of him.

"So don't you think I don't know anything about death, mister Winter! I know the life I bring into the world will eventually pass, but that doesn't mean I stop doing it. I bring the life with me in the knowledge that there was a chance for the world to be beautiful during the Summer, and when the Winter comes I will be able to move on and do it all again.

"So don't think," she leaned in then, expression serious. "That just because this boy you love," Jack choked, "is going to die, that you can't nurture him and enjoy your time with him. His life will pass like every other life this world has, but the light and beauty he will bring in the mean time will be worth it."

Jack inhaled, held his breath for a moment, exhaled, and then gave Spring a weak smile.

"Thanks, Spring," he said, ruffling her messy mop of green hair, "I owe you one."

"You can repay me by not pulling any more late snow storms, Mister!"

He laughed at that, standing and drawing one finger across his chest.

"Cross my heart."

With that, Spring bounded away through the trees, and Jack felt his mood lift a considerable amount. He didn't see her very often, but when he did she was usually full of wisdom, being so much older than he, and she usually gave him a few home truths.

It was a very real truth that Jack would outlive Jamie. That fact had always terrified him and threatened to undo him whenever he thought of it. But Spring's little analogies had given him a new perspective, and he walked slowly back in the direction of town, his steps lightened now that some of his worry was alleviated. His mind was made up, and he had some planning to do.

He had to be perfectly honest with himself. There were feelings and emotions tied to Jamie Bennett that he'd never experienced before. They scared the crap out of him with their intensity, and he still didn't entirely understand what they meant, but after seeing Jamie's drawings and talking to his seasonal companion Jack felt like he had a better idea of the direction they were taking him.

After all, it's better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all.

Jack reached Jamie's window when the sun was high in the sky, the warmth causing him to wiggle uncomfortably as he scaled the wall.

Jamie was still asleep when he returned, and he smiled to himself at how peaceful the teen now looked. He was no longer curled in a ball, instead sprawled out on the bed snoring away like he was finally getting a decent rest.

Jack took the note he'd left behind and scrunched it up, tossing it into the waste paper basket, before turning back to the little notebook filled with pictures of him.

This time, rather than flicking through each page with rising guilt and unease, Jack poured over the pictures in awe and admiration, marvelling at Jamie's skill and the depth of emotion he clearly put into them. Some were little doodles, but most of them were detailed drawings like the first few he'd looked at earlier. He felt his heart swell in his chest, and with each drawing Jack felt more and more certain of what he wanted to do.

"Having fun?"

Jack started at the sound of the voice, and turned to see Jamie sitting up in bed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He gave a huge, drawn out yawn, and Jack grinned.

"Morning…or. Closer to midday I think." He laughed and leapt out of the chair, gliding over to perch on Jamie's bed.

"You like my drawings?" Jamie said, noticing what particular book it was that Jack was holding.

"Jamie these…these are _amazing_," Jack replied, gazing down at the page he had open. It was probably his favourite, a picture of him surrounded in flurries of snow, wide smile in place while little sculptures dotted the ground at his feet.

"You drew all of these?"

"Yeah," Jamie murmured, his face just a tiny bit flushed. "I spent a lot of time just…wishing you'd come back." He paused, and Jack dropped his gaze back to the sketchbook. "And I was worried I was going to forget you, so I started drawing you. So I wouldn't forget what you look like."

"It seems like it worked," Jack said a little weakly, and he felt, rather than saw, Jamie grin.

"It doesn't compare to the real thing though," he replied, placing a hand on the book causing Jack to look up at him. "I can't talk to my drawings…or laugh with them or…anything else."

Jack met Jamie's gaze then, and realised they were almost nose to nose. His vision was consumed with the burnt sienna of Jamie's irises, and he couldn't think. His body kept him in place, and his breathing hitched.

Time seemed to pause for that brief moment. All Jack could see was Jamie's eyes. They held in them all the naivety of youth, but a wisdom drawn from a sadness that made Jack feel miniscule. They were wide, sincere and full of swirling emotions that were mostly unrecognisable.

Everything seemed to slow down and stop. There was no Jack, no Jamie. No Wraith. No guardians, no seasons, nor day or night. There was nothing but two tormented figures swirling in their own emotions, and the feeling of the breath between them.

And then Jack closed his eyes.

The first light bump of Jamie's lips against his made Jack tremble a little, but he kept his eyes closed. There it was again. Shy, tender and warm, and after a moment, Jack leaned forward to return the gesture.

It was clumsy. Both boys shy, a little frightened and unsure of what they were doing, but doing it anyway because there was something inside them guiding them on. Jack shuffled forward so he could slide one hand up around the back of Jamie's neck, causing him to shiver, and Jamie lightly cupped Jack's cheek, his free hand resting against his ice encrusted hoodie.

Jack felt like the ground had fallen out beneath him and he was floating weightlessly. He tried hard not to ruin the moment, focusing on the feeling of Jamie's lips against his own.

But it turned out that didn't matter. After a few moments, Jamie pulled away, and the only thing that came out of his mouth was a gurgled 'ow'.

He pressed a finger to his lips, realising they were bleeding a little, and for a moment Jack was absolutely horrified.

And then Jamie collapsed into giggles.

"You…gave me _frostbite_," Jamie said, holding his fingers against the tiny patch of broken skin.

Jack sat for a second in horror, but then realised Jamie wasn't angry. He thought it was hilarious. And finally, Jack managed to laugh weakly too.

It escalated and eventually the two boys were laughing almost hysterically, slapping their knees and wheezing out exclamations of amusement. Jamie launched himself at Jack, throwing his arms around him nuzzling into his neck, still giggling manically.

"I'm gonna make you pay for that," he said between laughs, and Jack chuckled as he wrapped his arms around his waist. "I can't believe you actually froze my skin."

They spent a long time like that. Hugging, laughing together and exchanging shy, gentle kisses. There wasn't much conversation, and Jack felt his worries about Jamie drift out the window. He didn't have to have the dreaded talk with him, and he didn't have to worry that Jamie would find it weird. And Jamie didn't have to worry that Jack would leave. Neither of them had said a word about it.

Nothing needed to be said.

* * *

_**AN: **__Reviews nourish my soul._


	8. Gloom

**_AN: Short but sweet, because I'm going on holidays tomorrow. Special thanks to tumblr users bluebirdordinary and thealiway for helping me brainstorm, and thank you to everyone reviewing! Expect a next chapter early next week guys! _**

**_x_**

_A quiet whinny echoed throughout the dimness of the room. It was nearly dark, the area lit up only by tiny will-o'-the-wisps which danced around bouncing off stone and glass. There was very little sound, save the quiet music made by a set of wooden panpipes and gentle, quiet breathing._

_The whinny sounded again, and with a surge of energy a portal-like spiral of light opened up, and through it stepped the faithful servant. Draped across it's back were two sleeping children, who stirred softly. They were quickly silenced by the servant who nickered and the sound was a strange music to anyone's ears. It held in it the weight of promise, a gentle caress like that of a mother soothing a restless infant. The children settled back to sleep and were deposited on a stone dais covered in downy fabric in the middle of the darkened chamber._

_Once it had delivered its precious cargo, the servant turned back to its master and bowed its horned head, before disappearing again through the same strange light portal through which it had arrived._

_The figure playing the pipes paused for a brief moment and placed his instrument in an intricately decorated wooden box that looked like it had seen the light of many, many days. He gave the box a loving caress and then stood in a smooth, silent action. He was clad in clothes that could only be described as medieval; a leather vest covering a plain woollen blouse that was fastened at the waist by a belt. Short woollen trousers were met just beneath the knee by long boots, and a mantle that hung thickly from the shoulders to mid calf. A plain brown cap and elbow length gloves completed the ensemble._

_To anyone unaware, the man could pass as a member of a medieval society, perhaps a jousting club or some such thing. He was tall and slim, and had very little that marked him as not-of-this-world, aside from his rather outlandish attire._

_Indeed, even in a medieval world he would not be regarded as more than a peasant. He held no weapons, no insignia of a lord or king, and nothing that marked him as an individual of any danger._

_This, perhaps, was his greatest asset. A master of disguise and stealth, he looked entirely ordinary; capable of hiding in pain sight._

_There was only one oddity about his attire that perhaps even a 16__th__ Century citizen might think strange, and that was the worn, but very well cared for, leather case hooked to his belt. Right now, the contents of the case were locked away in their rightful place in that intricate wooden box, but whenever the man was travelling, they were tucked away inside the case, protected from rain, wind and dirt, and any other foul thing that attempted to sully them._

_The man stood, his boots clicking loudly on the stone floors, echoed by the walls of the chamber. He approached the dais where the two small children slept soundly, and toyed with his beard while he contemplated._

_"Only two, this evening," he spoke aloud. There was no fear of being overheard here. "And yet I was promised there would be at least five."_

_A dilemma, indeed. His faithful servant had never failed him before. Whatever number he chose, the servant delivered. There was most definitely a reason for the missed quota._

_And only one explanation that fit._

_"It seems that my servant has been most unfortunate in its nightly travels, this evening. A compromising position for us both, I should think. If the Guardians are aware of my servant and have managed to interfere with its activities, I shall have to escalate my intentions. Wouldn't that be nice, my darling children?"_

_The two on the dais remained silent, breathing evenly and gently while the man spoke._

_"Of course it would be nice. If I do not reach my desired number of refugees, I must not lament. It is only the idle and the dim who wish for more than they have, isn't it?"_

_With a smile that any observer would only describe as genuine and warm, the Pied Piper turned on his heel and lightly returned to the wooden box, where his pipes were lovingly stored. He sat down on the dais beside the sleeping children, and with a quiet hum and smile into the darkness, he began to play._

_"Soon, there shall only be eternal rest."_


	9. Regroup

_**Time to make the PLANS. And Jamie makes fun of Jack for being a virgin.**_

_**I had to get this out because next week I'm away for three weeks wheeze.**_  
_**Here have a thing. It gets mildly steamy at the end of the chapter.**_

* * *

"Jack! Jamie! Good to see you boys, very good to see you!"

The booming voice of Nicholas St. North echoed through the room, causing the elves underfoot to scatter in a tinkle of tiny bells. North chortled at their frantic scurries, but turned back to the pair of newcomers with a bright, warm smile.

"Bunny and Sandy are not here yet. Would you like fruit cake?"

Jack declined the offer and moved to perch on the edge of North's huge mahogany desk, while Jamie nodded eagerly. Jack watched as Jamie took one of the slices and promptly tore into it with a huge grin on his face, warbling out something about 'on'y ge' thif a' crissmass!'. North chuckled again, and Jamie shuffled over to sit beside Jack, who leaned against him ever so slightly.

The look North gave him—a knowing wink followed by a ridiculously wide smile—made Jack's face heat up ever so slightly, and he cleared his throat.

"So, uh. What's the plan, Santa?"

"We wait for others first," North replied, moving to the bookshelves in the room to tug out an enormous volume that he blew at least a quarter inch of dust off. "And then we recount. Were you successful in your search?"

Jack nodded, but didn't offer any more information than that, preferring not to recount it any more than necessary. North appeared to pick up on both boys discomfort, and didn't inquire further. Instead, he simply nodded, and placed the volume in his hands on the desk, sitting down to silently open and begin pouring over its contents.

Over the last two days, while Jack and Jamie had time to kill, they had rarely left one another's company. During the day, they'd passed time either out by Jack's lake (which Jamie informed him had recently been unofficially renamed to 'Jack's Pond', making Jack beam for hours) shyly holding hands and sharing the contact they'd been starved of over the last few years, or out in various parts of Burgess, Jamie cheerfully and enthusiastically drawing Jack performing any number of ridiculous stunts. During the nights, Jamie slept peacefully while Jack whittled away the hours just watching him, sometimes brushing his hair out of his eyes when he rolled over or curling up around him to doze lightly on top of the duvet. For those two very short days, they had managed to almost forget anything else existed, having eyes only for each other while they could.

They'd both mutually agreed to not make a big deal out of their budding romance. Jack really didn't want to face the teasing and torment from the other Guardians, and Jamie didn't particularly want to be given the 'fatherly talking to' he knew full well would come from North. So while they weren't really keeping it a secret, they weren't really going out of their way to make it headline news.

They had more important things to worry about after all.

* * *

Within the hour, Tooth, Aster and Sandy had arrived at the pole. North spent his time initially giving warm drinks to everyone but Jack, before instructing the yeti's to bring more chairs into his study so they could all sit and talk.

"So," North began once they had all settled. "I believe that Jack and Jamie were most successful in the search for Pitch. Am I right, Jack?"

Jack nodded silently, and then rubbed his forehead as he tried to collect his thoughts. He'd more or less shoved the entire ordeal out of his mind when they had finished their brief research; too preoccupied with other things to really focus on the weight of what they'd learned.

Slowly, and with help from Jamie, Jack recounted to the group their rendezvous with the bogeyman. He visibly struggled at the part where Jamie was in Pitch's grip, but a comforting hand on his knee from the boy helped clear his head. When he revealed the name of the being responsible for the kidnappings, _Pied Piper, _all four Guardians in the room besides Jack stiffened. Tooth's feathers flared around her neck and North's fist clenched so hard around the quill he was using to write that it snapped in two.

"Sooo, I take it you've come across him before," Jack said, one eyebrow raised.

"I'm a bit more bothered by how easily Pitch gave up that information," Bunny said darkly, arms crossed as he contemplated.

"He didn't give it up easily," Jack replied coolly, one hand unconsciously moving to rest at the back of Jamie's neck.

"No, I mean, you know what he was like last time. He wouldn't give up until he was literally backed into a corner. He kept trying to bait us even after it was clear that we'd beaten him, remember?"

Jack's expression remained stony. Bunny was unfazed.

"So why did he give up the information so easily this time?"

"Do you think he has an agenda?" Toothiana piped in, wings anxiously fluttering as she gazed at Bunnymund with wide eyes.

"Could do, mate," the latter replied. "Pitch isn't known for his willingness to hand out information willy-nilly. Especially information on an old ally. I think there's something else at work here that we aren't thinking of."

"I think the most important thing is to find the lost children first," Jamie pitched in quietly. "No offense to any of your wild ideas or anything, but I kind of want to find my sister first before I go chasing a pair of insane villains, one whom outright stated that he'd turn me into some kind of villain if he got his hands on me."

Jack stiffened, and the others turned to look at Jamie.

After a few moments of very pregnant silence, North sighed.

"I understand, Jamie," he said, lacing his fingers together. "But here is the thing. We do not know if Piper and Pitch are luring us into a trap. If we go without planning, we may find ourselves in dire situation. Understand that we want to find Sophie as much as you, but we must think of our own wellbeing as well."

"I don't _care _about my wellbeing!" Jamie burst forth, on his feet so fast that Jack nearly toppled off the chair. "I care about my _sister!_ I don't want to sit around here making plans while she could be…in real trouble! The more time we sit around drinking tea and eating _cakes,_ the more time passes and we don't know what's happening to her!"

"Jamie," Tooth cut in, gliding over to rest a small hand on his shoulder. "You have to understand. We'd be less than useless if we all go careening in without any sort of idea of what we're getting into. You have a better chance of saving Sophie if we are all prepared for what we might face."

"I'm sick of sitting around," Jamie replied impatiently. "It's been _days _already, who knows what could be happening to her? This isn't…I—"

"Jamie."

The room fell silent, and five pairs of eyes turned to Jack as he finally spoke up. The sound of his voice was startlingly dark, and he wasn't looking at any of them.

"We can't just go belting in like that," Jack said. "The others are right when they say Pitch has another agenda. He always does. He told us right out what it is. And frankly, I'd like to avoid it at any cost."

"He…told us?" Jamie's voice rose a little at that, and the look Jack gave him made any further questions die in his throat. It was a _we will discuss this later_ look.

"What did Pitch tell you, Jack?" North interjected, and Jack shook his head.

"I don't want to speculate too much right now. But Aster is right. We need to figure out a way to approach this in order to save the kids and keep ourselves out of harms way."

Jamie visibly swallowed, and nodded before sitting back down on the chair. Jack remained standing.

"So," North said after another moment of silence. "What do we know about Pied Piper?"

A gentle jingling indicated Sandy was speaking, and Jack turned to look.

_-Was a menace in the Dark Ages. I was not aware of it then but it is clear to me now that he and Pitch Black were in an alliance._

"How could you miss something like that, mate?"

Sandy shot Bunny a withering look, and continued without comment.

_Pitch used to give the children nightmares, usually after I gave them their dreams. Children disappearing back then wasn't so odd, but when I reflect, it was usually the children who had nightmares._

Jack watched silently as North stroked his beard, a look of intense concentration on his bushy brow.

"It would seam that Pitch send children fear, and then Piper take them. But why?"

"Because escaping fear is everyone's biggest wish," Jack said quietly.

Once again, five pairs of eyes turned to him. Gritting his teeth, he gripped his staff and stood.

"What does anyone experiencing fear want more than anything else?" He said, watching the wide eyes fixed on him.

He turned and looked pointedly at Toothiana.

"Escape…" She said softly after a few minutes. "Someone who is afraid wants a way out."

Jack dragged his fingers through his hair, a tormented look on his face as he turned back to face the others.

"It doesn't matter what the situation is. When someone is frightened, they'll do anything they can to get themselves away from the source. Human, spirit, animal, it doesn't matter. Pitch sends his nightmares after the children, making them fear sleep or just…anything. Anything that they're scared of. And the Piper swoops in with the promise of a way out."

Jack swallowed, gazing at the floor as he sat back down on the armchair.

There was a pregnant pause.

"Jack," North finally spoke up, "how do you know this?"

"Because that was me once," his voice broke, and he hid his face. "When I first became a guardian, no one could see me. I avoided being in positions where people could just…walk through me like they did. I kept myself high off the ground and spent a long time on my own, away from any people. Because I was afraid that…I'd be alone forever. And if I was alone by my own choosing, then at least…at least I knew that it was my choice."

He felt Jamie's hand curl itself lightly around his fingers, but his remained limp and cold.

"And when…" he took a deep breath, and finally glanced up at North, whose expression was sorrowful. "When Jamie started growing up I was…scared that he would stop believing in me. Or that something else would happen and I'd lose him forever. So I left. I took myself away because it was too much and I couldn't deal with it.

"That's why the Piper and Black are working together," he said, voice hardening a little. "Because when the kids are afraid, they'll willingly follow the Piper if he promises something better."

"But you said yourself Jack," Tooth said softly. "Pitch is too weak right now to be working with him."

"He's getting stronger," Jamie piped up darkly. "He nearly took both of us out when we confronted him. I think he's feeding off the fear created by the Piper to strengthen himself."

_But then what?_

Jamie glanced at Jack, who translated Sandy's words for him.

He shook his head slowly, biting his lip.

"I don't know."

"We have to stop the pair of them before they get to that point then," Bunny said decisively. "We can't let them join forces. Pitch was bad enough last time we had to deal with him. This time, with all this extra baggage? Bugger that, mate. We need to top them both before they cause more damage."

This was met by a conclusive murmur of agreement from the others.

Jack remained silent after that. He purposefully zoned out from the conversation, feeling drained and void of feeling. He knew they'd come up with some ingenious plan to tackle their new foes, and he didn't feel guilty about being less than helpful. After all, he and Jamie were the ones who had nearly been killed by Pitch, so he felt like he deserved the break.

He'd lost track of time when Jamie began nudging him. Turning to look, he suddenly remembered that being a human, Jamie had functional needs. Like sleep. More sleep than the Guardians needed, anyway.

"Uh, guys," he spoke up, gesturing at Jamie's exhausted face. "I'm gonna go help Jamie to find his room. And I'll probably catch a few z's myself, at least to dull off reality for a while."

The others cast him concerned looks, but acquiesced and bid them both goodnight.

* * *

It didn't take Jack long to realise that Jamie was _very, very tired_. The Yeti leading them through the castle didn't pay much attention to them, so Jack deftly lifted the boy up bridal style, letting him rest his head against his shoulder as he carried him to his room.

"'Cold," Jamie muttered sleepily, and Jack cringed.

"Sorry, I'll put you down if you want."

"No, no…'s'fine. I like the cold."

He couldn't help but smile quietly at that.

The yeti left them alone once they'd reached their room, which Jack half gratefully, half embarrassingly realised was set for two.

Bloody North.

With much more grace than he'd once possessed, Jack deposited Jamie onto the bed, tugging the covers up over him. He was about to turn to leave when a warm hand shyly took his own, and he turned to see bright brown eyes glittering in the dim light.

"Stay with me?" Jamie murmured quietly.

Jack didn't answer. He simply closed the door and pulled off his hoodie, blowing out the candle as he settled himself down beside the other.

"Come under the covers with me," Jamie whispered in the darkness.

Jack sighed, and shook his head softly.

"It's too cold if you're right up against me," he murmured. "You'll catch a chill."

Jamie huffed, and proceeded to toss and turn to purposefully irritate him.

Eventually, Jack gave in and crawled under the covers, suppressing an involuntary shiver as he felt Jamie's warm skin brush against his own.

"Where…you were wearing a shirt when I put you to bed, Jamie."

"I took it off."

Jack gave an exasperated sigh, but didn't say anything.

He was almost dozing when he felt light fingers slide deftly down his side, which promptly jerked him awake again. He shuffled backwards, but Jamie followed him, moving forwards until he was almost pressed right against him.

"Jam—"

"Shh…"

Jack's words died in his throat when he felt Jamie's lips against his. He was warm and not at all shy, which was unusual. Usually Jack was the one who took the lead. This time though, Jamie wasted no time in getting Jack onto his back, tangling their legs together with his hands propped on either side of Jack's head. His breath was hot against Jack's icy skin, and he felt long forgotten responses stirring up in his body with the closeness.

It felt nice…but still wrong. His mind was elsewhere. He didn't want to do this here, in the middle of the North Pole. Not while they were surrounded by others.

"Jamie," Jack breathed, trying to gently disentangle himself. But Jamie just hummed lightly and latched onto his neck, causing Jack's breath to hitch.

"Jamie," he said a little more urgently, and the other finally paused.

"What?" Jamie said, voice just a little sulky.

"Not here," Jack replied weakly, mentally kicking himself as he did so. His body was screaming _DO IT RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW! _ But his stupid brain had to be rational.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't…want it to be like that. I…um. Don't think we're ready."

Jamie paused, and Jack could feel his brows knit together.

"I'm a seventeen year old boy, Jack. I've been ready since I was fifteen."

"Yeah…well…" Jack felt his face heat up, and he tried to hide his face in the pillow. He could practically feel the realisation clunk into place in Jamie's head.

"You've never…?"

"No."

"Not even when you were…?"

"Never."

"Or after, when you and Tooth…?"

"Nope."

"Oh my god."

"Shut up."

He could feel Jamie begin to snicker, and with a scowl, Jack elbowed his way out from under him to get out of the bed. Jamie whined theatrically.

"Oh come on, I didn't mean it like that!"

"Just forget it. It doesn't matter."

"Obviously it does, Jack."

Jack huffed, and moved to perch by the windowsill, painting little ice figures on the glass with a finger while he sulked.

He heard Jamie move, and then a warm hand curled itself around his fingers, causing Jack to sigh and turn to face him.

"We can wait," Jamie said with a gentle smile. "I waited for seven years. A few more wont hurt."

"I waited for three hundred and seven," Jack countered with a sly grin. It disappeared after a few moments.

"What is it?" Jamie said, sitting down beside him then. "I can tell there's something else on your mind. Talk to me."

"It's stupid," he replied, to which Jamie shook his head. "I just. I grew up in the colonial era, and back then this," he gestured between them, "us…it was outright demonized. And virginity was supposed to be something special too. For girls, at least. Did you know my family had already arranged for me to marry when I died?"

Jamie's eyes widened, and Jack nodded, a wistful smile on his face.

"She was only fourteen, and as soon as I turned twenty we were to be married, and I'd inherit my father's land. I never turned twenty, obviously."

They were silent for a few minutes, and then Jamie spoke again.

"I like it when you talk about your past life."

"You do?"

Jamie leaned his head on his shoulder.

"Yeah. It's like I'm learning more about you. Like you're letting me into this other world. I'd like to hear more, if I can."

Jack smiled.

"I can tell you about Halloween's in my village…"

* * *

They spent a long time talking that night. Forgetting about everything else for a few hours while Jack talked about his life as a human, and Jamie listened and asked questions. By the time the sun was at the lowest it would get (being spring, the daylight hours were becoming longer and longer at the north pole), they had worn themselves out just talking. With little insistence from Jack, Jamie crawled back into bed while Jack settled on top of the covers, curling one arm around him.

They slept like that for hours.

* * *

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